


cosmic art [rill boismortier] | completed

by e_nvchrno



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Captain Rill, Constellations, Cosmic Art, Cosmic Magic, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Literally a Ball of Fluff, Magic, Painting Magic, Picture Magic, Planetary Magic, Rill Boismortier is So Cute, Royalty, Time Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25971031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_nvchrno/pseuds/e_nvchrno
Summary: ✁・・・❝Really, he was mannerly enough to avoid gawking at random strangers. But this girl before him, radiating with nothing but grace, had him enthralled. She was mesmerizing in every way. The faint glimmer of the afternoon sun ghosted over her pale skin and eyes as deep as the heart of the sea. And when those very eyes shifted and finally acknowledged his presence, a surge of understanding had calmed and further mystified him at the same time. From the moment he first laid his eyes on her, he knew by the loud thumping of his heart, he liked her.While his thoughts danced in infinite directions, and his chest threatened to burst with happiness, he managed to say, "Hi. I'm Rill."The first thought that came to her head were colours. They shifted from pink, to red, and to a calm blue. She wanted to remember the way his eyes met hers and don't turn away. She could almost feel herself drown in his smile."Hi. I'm Etienne."
Relationships: Rill Boismortier/Original Female Character(s), Rill Boismortier/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. My Name Is...

_She’s a girl_ , _they scoff in disbelief. Like that diminishes her worth. Like it dooms her quest for recognition from the start. (It does) Like that’s all they will ever need to know to judge and find lacking._

_She’s a genius, they sneer in anger. Like that cheapens her accomplishments. Like she owes her victories to a cheat code everyone else had the good grace not to use. (Only worse) Like that’s all they will ever need to know to judge and find lacking._

_It seemed like they were thoroughly divided in their opinions._

_The people either loved her or hated her. There was rarely ever an in-between._

_Etienne never had trouble disregarding the cesspool of gossip. Training her eyes to focus elsewhere was manageable. Showing indifference was simple enough. What did they know about her? She never understood, however, why people were this way._

_Despite this slight downfall, being the sister of the Wizard King had its perks. Especially for a nine year old._

_Well, nine and half._

_Etienne effortlessly made friends with the Royals and Noble families. Of course, that included the House of Silva, the House of Vermillion and the House of Vaude._

_"I wonder when my Magic will come..." Etienne hummed as her fingers threaded along her friend's messy silver hair._

_"It better come soon," Solid replied, conjuring up a sphere of water around his hands, "Ow! Don't tug."_

_"Sorry! I'm done now," she said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. She handed him a mirror, "It's called a dutch braid hairstyle. If you grow out your fringe, you can leave that and the rest of your head in a loose hairstyle."_

_Solid ran a finger through his braids and secretly admired the tangled mess of curls, "Guess it's not bad."_

_"What is?" Nebra asked, cocking a brow. Her attention elsewhere, she had her hands outstretched in front of her as she attempted to strengthen her Mist magic. Etienne's eyes sparkled with awe when the mist engulfed them whole before apparating away._

_"I just braided Solid's hair, isn't it pretty?" Etienne's eyes gleamed as she presented her work._

_"Very pretty," Nebra snorted, "Who knew Solid could look so decent?"_

_"You should wear this hairstyle for your birthday party tomorrow!" Etienne clapped her hands together in excitement, "What a way to celebrate turning ten, right?"_

_"I-It looks nice, Solid-nee-san," chimed a little voice in the corner._

_"Shut up, no one cares what you think," Solid snapped._

_"You don't have to be so mean to Noelle," Etienne murmured._

_"Etienne, this is family business," Nebra warned._

_"But ..." Etienne trailed off. Her eyebrows scrunched together in hard thought, brainstorming ways she could possibly end this argument. As far back as she could remember, Solid and Noelle had never been in the same room and not fought before. Fought wasn't quite the right word for it. It was always one-sided on Solid's part._

_Solid made his way towards Noelle, a disdainful look on his face as he snatched up her toy. Tears ran down Noelle's face, "P-Please stop, Solid-nee san...! Please give that back."_

_"Solid..." Etienne started._

_"You can't even protect what's important to you because you're weak," Solid spat._

_Beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. Noelle could only tremble at what was about to unfold, "Stop!"_

_One strong tug was all it took for cracks to spiral down to the doll's body. He strewn it aside and smirked contentedly, "If you're upset then get back at me."_

_"Solid, stop it!" Etienne was far too late to react. By the time she said this, the doll had been irreparably broken, and so had Noelle._

_"Huh?! What are you gonna do about it?" He goaded angrily as he glared at her, "Why the hell are you defending her?!"_

_Solid would never admit this, but he prayed Etienne would back down. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. She would never do that, and he knew. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Yet at the same time, he didn't want to hurt his pride either._

_"No fighting, both of you!" Nebra scolded._

_"How could you say something like that?!" Etienne demanded, "How can someone progress when all they get is destructive criticism?!" She stood in front of Noelle in a protective stance. Noelle looked up at Etienne's back with her big, round eyes. This was the point where she started to think of Etienne as a role model. She swore when she was older, she wouldn't let anyone get hurt like she did._

_"You really want to go up against me, Etienne?" Solid challenged, "You're really choosing that useless garbage over me?"_

_"Yes, if you don't stop this! God, Why are you being so... difficult?! ... And so... So terrible today?!" She aggravated._

_Solid's eyes grew wide at her remark, "H... How dare you?!" He shot out his hand, creating a cluster of needles from his water magic, "Do you realise who you're talking to?!" Without thinking, he shot them at her before realisation hit him and his face contorted in pure fear._

_"Solid!" Nebra scolded, standing up so quickly she knocked over her chair._

_Etienne's breath hitched, "W-Wait, why are you attacking?! S-Stop!" She quickly whirled around and held Noelle, using her own body as a shield._

_And at that point, Etienne's world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds. The taste. The smell. Everything was just gone. She paused trying to hold back the strange feelings rumbling inside her but she couldn't. She felt a disproportionate amount of power surging through her body. So indescribably powerful that she feared her body couldn't take it._

_The needles lost their form and spilled onto the ground, staining the carpet wet. Noelle gasped. Nebra stumbled backwards so forcefully she had knocked down a vase. Solid's knees buckled as he dropped to the floor._ _His screams came from a place or terror, telling of a mind lost in absolute fear. It carried on for a split second before he disappeared._

_Regaining her composure, Nebra knelt down next to Etienne and shook her shoulders violently, "Etienne! What did you do to Solid?! What did you do?!"_

_Etienne froze. Her h_ _ands tremble and her eyes water as she reached her hand towards him. "C-Can't you see he's trapped in a black hole? He can't get out..." She said barely audibly._

_"What?! Black hole?! Where is he?! Etienne!" Nebra cried out hysterically, "Noze - nee samal! Help!"_

_"I..." Etienne could feel the sweat drench her skin, the throbbing of her own eyes, the ringing screams vibrating in her ears, and the thumping of her heart against her chest. They couldn't see this horrifying thing? It was so clear in her mind -_

_She held out her hand in shock. Pulsing from her fingertips is a strange, bright light. She watched it flicker, changing colors from amber, to ruby, then back to gold. She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palms._

_H-How..._

_..._

_"Un... Undo," she choked out._

_Solid reappeared and collapsed onto the floor, spluttering and gasping for air. He clutched his throat, his eyes trailing through the rest of his body. He stared at his trembling hands, "W-What happened...? N-Nebra nee-san? ... Etienne?"_ _The emotions rushed through Solid's eyes so quickly Etienne barely had time to register that his confusion had turned to fear, and then ultimately to pure anger._

_"What the hell did you do to me, you freak?!"_

_Nebra let out a sharp exhale, her mind still trying to comprehend what had happened, "You... You can't even control your powers, you're just like Noelle... You don't belong here! You tried to kill him! Solid could have died!"_

_"W-Wait... She was only trying to protect me!" Noelle tried, only to receive a scathing glare from her siblings._

_"And you dare call yourself by the Novachrono name? You should be ashamed of yourself," Solid seethed._

_More and more contempt words flew from his mouth that she never thought she'd even think, let alone say out loud. Solid knew instantly the look in Etienne's eyes that they'd hit their mark. In that instant their relationship shattered into glassy shards. Nothing would ever be the same again._

_"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She stammered, frightened by how he was looking at her._

_"I don't care! I hate you!"_

_"You ... hate me?" She trailed off. And that was the point where she felt her defenses crumble into nothing. Hearing someone she cared about say those three words to her broke open the walls she had tried long and hard to support. The walls that acted like some sort of noise cancelling buds to reflect all the ugly sneers and all the vileness people launched her way. They didn't know her, so their words didn't matter. If it were her friends... Then they must be true right?_

_His eyes were a knife in her ribs, the sharp point digging deeper. Where there had been love was an emptiness, but not in any vulnerable sense. Uncomfortable with the void, he had filled it with an emotion he was more at ease with - raw anger. The unmoving gaze was accompanied by deliberate slow breathing, almost like he was fighting something back and loosing._

_"Okay. I'll leave."_

_She could have imagined it, but she thought she might have seen a hint of regret in his eyes before she let herself out._


	2. My Name Is...

_Etienne's feet dragged her to a place that she knew she could seek comfort from. She's always thought the House of Vaude felt a little lonely, but Langris Vaude, despite his awful personality towards his brother, was someone she considered one of her closest friends. And so she approached the mansion, surprised to see the door left ajar. Before she could swing the door open, she heard someone say,_

_"You're breaking and entering."_

_Etienne managed a smile at the sight of her friend. She rolled her eyes, "This isn't breaking and entering. It's just entering, because there's an unlocked door."_

_Langris ran a finger through his hair and huffed, "Why are you here?" He noticed the shadow of a frown she had on her face but bit his tongue before he could ask her why. He hated seeing people in such a state. Weak. But a part of him, for a reason he could not comprehend, wanted to know why she looked like she'd been crying._

_Instead of answering, Etienne's ears perked to the sound of clatters from inside the house, "Are you and Finral training?"_

_"Yeah," he pushed the front door open a little more as an invitation, "Do you want to join us?"_

_Her mind sprouting with memories of what she had done earlier made her blood run cold. She shook her head and turned on her heel, "Maybe next time." She knew better than anyone not to interrupt when Langris and Finral were training. No matter what circumstance, an argument between them was bound to rise. How strangely similar to Solid and Noelle._

_"Oi! Why'd you even come here then?" Langris called after her, a spring of annoyance tugging at his voice._

_"Maybe I just wanted to see you," she replied absentmindedly._

_Langris' cheeks bloomed with colour, "W-Wh - Don't joke around like that!" He slammed the door behind him in embarrassment._

_Next, she trekked all the way across town to reach the Vermillion residence._ _The one who greeted her was none other than the eldest Vermillion sibling._

_It took less than a second for Mereoleona to sense that something was wrong. Being a few good years older than Etienne, Mereoleona always felt extremely protective of her. Like the little sister she never had. This was also why, whenever they trained, she never went easy on her._

_"You're getting your Grimoire tomorrow, aren't you?" Etienne asked before Mereoleona could say anything._

_Mereoleona tied her hair into a messy bun and grinned, "Yeah. After that, I'm going to go to high density Mana environments. Come with me, Etienne."_

_Etienne had refused of course, as she hadn't even received her Grimoire yet. After a contemplative pause, she proceeded to tell the older girl about how her magic had spiraled out of control. Channeling all the control she could muster up, she was able to conjure up the same bright colours from earlier - they were even brighter now - hues of gold and silver._

_"Cosmic Magic." Mereoleona breathed out. She stared at the ripple of colours emitting from Etienne's palms._

_"C-Cosmic?"_

_"Yeah. It's an extremely rare form of magic from the Ancient Times," Mereoleona clicked her tongue irritatedly and cracked her knuckles, "Damn those Silvas. I'm going to teach Nozel's siblings a lesson." She turned to Etienne, her eyes swirling with determination and vigor, "You should know well enough by now not to listen to what anyone has to say. Think of yourself as the Sun." She nodded her head towards the horizon, "You strive to spread your light but you're too afraid to rise. I thought I taught you better than that."_

_Etienne glanced at the sun, a little unsure of what Mereoleona was getting at._

_"Etienne, do you know what the world would do if the sun never rose?"_

_Etienne gazed at Mereoleona's face, scrunched into a questioning expression. Her throat tightened. "Well, I suppose that it wouldn't be as bright."_

_"Yes. Without the light of the Sun, the world would be depressing. Etienne, you are that sun. The word needs to be set on fire by the real you. The Sun does not give two shits about who says what about it. Do you understand?"_

_"But,” Etienne protested, “What if I don't know how to rise?”_

_Mereoleona she jabbed a finger towards Etienne's heart, her eyes lighting sparks of passion, “The strength to rise comes from inside of you. You ar_ e the o _ne who has to decide to break down the walls hiding your true self, and not care what people think. Learn to rise from your self doubt."_

_Etienne could only stand still as she waited for the intensity Mereoleona's words to filter through. Despite the fervent way she had said it, it was the most loving tough love Etienne could ever dreamed off._

_She blinked away the tears brimming in her eyes, because she knew Mereoleona would probably smack her head if she saw that. So Etienne ran into Mereleona's arms with enough force to almost tackle her onto the ground._ _Her arms squeezed a fraction tighter before she stepped back._

_With her head held high, she mustered up the biggest smile she could manage, "Thank you."_

_Mereoleona crossed her arms over her chest, pleased with the outcome of her talk, "Go. You always feel better after taking a walk."_

_And so Etienne found herself in a park upon endless hours of walking. By this time, the heaviness in her limbs had eased themselves, just as Mereoleona said it would. She found herself in a place so beautiful, she would believe if someone told her she was in another world._

_The cherry blossom trees lined the perfect lawn, the blossom spread on the vine, stretching sweet pink petals. In the centre there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so you could look down at the Koi carp._

_After a time she took to take the view in, she spotted a small hunched figure leaning against a tree. Her feet carried her onwards over the rain-kissed sidewalks amid the red hues of cherry blossom petals. She could make out the figure of a boy with hair that seemed to glow from within rather than relying on sunshine,_ _a look of pure bliss on his face as he swirled his paintbrush around his canvas._

_"What are you painting?" She asked before she could stop herself. Beside the boy were at least ten different canvases, a layer of beautiful scenery in the background, but destroyed by a single stroke of red in the shape of an 'x'. She frowned and shifted her eyes to what he was currently painting._

_The composition of the painting was curious. Her eyes moved from place to place unable to decide what the focus of the piece was. She could only imagine that the art reflected the chaos inside the artist. The colours were vivid, almost to the point of garish. The stroke lines were bold and the images from out of this world. It was both stunning and head-ache inducing, it was like a novel condensed onto a single page. She would like to see it as a series of paintings with each idea given time and space to be expressed, to communicate the meaning that was inside its creator._

_"Why did you cross your paintings out? They're beautiful," she remarked, "Although maybe, if you add a little more white to this side of the painting..." She gasped, "Oh, I just remembered...! Did you know you could make the most beautiful white paint with seashells?"_

_The boy's head cocked to the side, his eyes shifting from his canvas to her. And all of a sudden, his focus was scattered, so filled with nervous anticipation that he felt, so excited, even giddy. He felt heat searing through his cheeks. Someone wanted to learn about his paintings? Showed genuine interest in them?_

_Really, he was mannerly enough to avoid gawking at random strangers. But this girl before him, radiating with nothing but grace, had him enthralled. She was mesmerizing in every way. The faint glimmer of the afternoon sun ghosted over her pale skin and eyes as deep as the heart of the sea. And when those very eyes shifted and finally acknowledged his presence, a surge of understanding had calmed and further mystified him at the same time. From the moment he first laid his eyes on her, he knew by the loud thumping of his heart, he liked her._

_While his thoughts danced in infinite directions, and his chest threatened to burst with happiness, he managed to say, "Hi. I'm Rill."_

_The first thought that came to her head were colours. They shifted from pink, to red, and to a calm blue. She wanted to remember the way his eyes met hers and don't turn away. She could almost feel herself drown in his smile._

_"Hi. I'm Etienne."_


	3. Entrance Exam

An ominous scream startled Etienne out of her abysmal nightmare. She shot out of bed, breathing heavily as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. The sheets were twisted around her limbs, probably because she was thrashing in her sleep. 

She grasped at the covers beneath her. _What was that dream?_ She could still hear the echoes of a strangled scream - one that belonged to her. She tried to remember what had gotten her so riled up, and she quickly wished she hadn’t tried. Her dreams never failed to leave her when she awoke, ridding themselves from memory eternally. Trying to recollect them usually gave her a headache.

But the screams were still echoing in her ears, the pleads and cries causing her hands to clench into fists and her tears to pour down even quicker. 

"Calm down, Etienne," she whispered, hugging herself. She placed a hand on her sweat drenched forehead. _A dream. That's all it was._

_A nightmare._

_Calm down. Breathe._

_Breat-_

Three knocks on the door made her frazzled nerves jump all together. Her hands flew to her face when a small cry made it past her lips.

"Vice Captain? The Exam is about to commence," reminded a muffled voice from behind the door. 

Etienne let her head slump back onto the mattress, suddenly realising how exhausted she still felt and how rigid her limbs were. Her lashes fluttered, so close to giving in to more sleep - hopefully this time, void of nightmares.

Another knock. "Vice Captain?"

Etienne groaned and forced herself back up. Catching her breath, she replied, "I'll be right there. Is Rill waiting?"

"Ah, yes. The Captain -"

"Is here!" Chimed aforementioned voice.

"Speak of the devil," she muttered, jumping out of bed.

She quickly got ready and ran her fingers through her messy locks. She liked her hair better unbrushed - something Mereoleona Vermillion had always done that rubbed off on her. Looking at the mirror one last time, she adjusted her cloak, eyeing the bejeweled Azure Deer crest embroidered into her outfit. 

It had only been two years since Etienne joined the Azure Deers. When she took the entrance exam, she had set her mind on joining the Golden Dawn, but her decision swayed when Rill put up a fight. A big one at that. Three months into the squad, she had manged to claw her way up, becoming the youngest in the history of all Vice Captains, and the fastest to have done so. Not too long ago, her brother had asked if she would like her own Squad, which she refused. 

_"I prefer to work behind closed doors. You know, as the Mastermind," she had said back then with a wink._

_"Mastermind, huh? Then, if anything were to happen to me, I hope you're ready to become the Wizard King - Ahem, forgive me - Wizard Queen," he had responded. At the incredulous look she had shot at him, he chuckled, "It's not that far fetched. The people do love you, and our beliefs are aligned. You could be the Mastermind who works behind the actual King's closed doors."_

_"You wish, Julius. And might I remind you - You should be careful what you wish for."_

And that was that.

"Good morning, Rill!" Etienne said with faux cheeriness as she opened the door. 

"Good morning, Etienne! You look like you didn't sleep well," he greeted.

"I definitely didn't," she yawned, dropping the act.

"There, there," he patted her head playfully. He whipped out his paintbrush and his Grimoire. A small island of colours, in the shape of an amoeba - their preferred form of aerial transport- appeared at their feet and levitated them off the ground.

Etienne didn't think she ever saw Rill without paint on his hands and a dash in his messy mound of hair. It was as much a part of him as the smile she wore whenever he was in her presence.

_...Not that it mattered._

She bounced on her flexing feet and rubbed her hands together. She could feel the excitement tingle from her head to her toes as she envisioned today's event. Just like her brother, she too, held extreme interest in others' Mana and magical abilities. So, off to the Magic Knights Exam Venue they went.

"We're not late!"

Coincidentally, they arrived at the arena alongside the anti-birds. They dispersed away from Etienne and Rill, gravitating to one specific person.

"Eh... that boy doesn't have any Mana," Etienne stated, her eyebrows furrowing together and interest gnawing at her insides. But what was this intensity she got from him? Amber eyes and messy black hair, he seemed the most confident and poised out of everyone else. 

"Oh? You're right," Rill landed them down safely, his paintbrush and Grimoire disseminating into thin air. 

"Captain Rill! Hi!" One of the participants said, waving enthusiastically. 

"Hi!" Rill grinned, waving back. 

"Vice Captain Etienne! You look beautiful today!" Another voiced.

Etienne waved awkwardly, "T-Thanks...?"

"You look so beautiful today, Etienne!" Rill seconded, but with the usual cheeriness of his voice, she could never tell whether he was being serious.

People were nudging each other. "Woah, aren't they the power couple of Azure Deer? She's the King's sister, isn't she? and he's the youngest person to ever be squad captain? Captain Rill?" 

"That's actually amazing..."

"I heard she has the power of the stars. As expected from the Wizard King's sister and a noble-woman!"

Etienne and Rill always found it funny that they both came from high-ranking noble families. To the point that they had a running competition as to who could pull more favours with the crowds. She always won. Not only did she pull favours from her brother, but also Rill's dearest butler, Walter. Etienne had a feeling he preferred doing them for her than for him, but that might be a little far fetched. And as she knew exactly what Rill was like when he was being silly and out of control, who could blame them? Then again, she sometimes went along with him ... 

"I hear they're sort of idiots, though..."

"Hey, who said that?!" She yelled, placing a hand on her hips. A mischievous smile came upon her lips, betraying the heavy weight of her previous words, "Does anyone want to duel? If you beat us, I'll let you join the Azure Deers."

Rill chuckled at her words, raising his hand up enthusiastically, "Me too, me too! I'll fight too!"

While others recoiled, the boy flocking with the anti-birds stepped forward, stars in his eyes as he asked, "Really?!" 

Etienne cocked her head to the side. She wasn't expecting anyone to take her up on that offer. Especially one with anti-birds pricking and nipping at him. She grinned nevertheless, "Sure, are you ready?" He nodded, a determined look in his eyes. She began promptly, "Cosmic Magic: Jupi-"

"Oi, you're not really going to unleash that on these guys are you?" A voice asked from behind her. 

"Aw, why not?! I wanted to paint Etienne's magic," Rill whined, swirling his paintbrush into the air. Her magic always seemed to taunt his curiosity and stimulate his creativity to their utmost peaks, which he absolutely loved.

Surfacing out from the crowd was the Captain of the Black Bulls, along with two familiar others. People stirred out of his way, parting into two halves to create a path.

"Yami, Finral and Gordon - Didn't expect you to show up on time," Etienne remarked. She glanced at the clock and rephrased, "Didn't expect you to show up only five minutes late." 

"Well, Captain Yami took a dump earlier and got lost ..." Finral admitted, "But my spatial magic got us just in the nick of time!" 

Gordon mumbled something under his breath as he stared at Etienne. 

Yami's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "I like to have a walk after my dump, you little shit, do you have a problem with that or something?!"

"N-No!" Finral squealed, shaking his head frantically. 

"We should get going, it's starting soon," Rill reminded, tugging at Etienne's sleeve. The rest of the Captains were already taking their places.

"Right!" Etienne clapped her hands together. She faced the boy who had taken up her offer, "Sorry! Maybe some other time. What was your name again?"

"Asta. From Hage," he introduced, jabbing a thumb at his chest, "And I'm going to be the Wizard King one day!"

For some reason, this made Etienne dissolve into a pool of laughter. She wiped the tears from her eyes and managed to say, "Oh, Juliu- I mean, the Wizard King will definitely like you. Maybe you can take my place as next in line."

Asta was ready to have her laugh at him, and his eyebrows had furrowed together as a reflex. But when she patted his shoulder in encouragement, his mouth jarred open. Then it downed on him.

"Next in line?!"

Before he could ask for her name, a smack on his head drew his attention elsewhere.. "Bah-hah! Are you an idiot?! She's the Wizard King's sister. Why would you say something like that?! Bah-hah!"

Asta's jaw slacked further, "What?!" The shock evaporated from his eyes as fast as it appeared, replaced by a burst of adrenaline. He pumped his fists in the air and speculated, "Maybe the path to being the Wizard King isn't as far away as I thought."

Etienne laughed heartily, "I guess not. Do your best, Asta!"

"Bye!" Rill waved goodbye to the boy. He turned to Etienne as they walked away, "Hm... Hopefully this year's participants give me some sort of inspiration to paint."

Etienne took her place next to Rill, excitement bubbling inside her as she watched the exam commence. She glanced at the other captains, most of their expressions stoic as they monitored each participant one by one. In the midst of this, she locked eyes with a pair of sharp blue ones, and her face warped into a grim expression.

_'Freak.'_

Unpleasant memories of their false friendship rushed into her head like a bad migraine. The words he said to her when she had used her powers for the first time. How he had abandoned her when she slipped up. 

To some part of her, he still oozed a sort of effortless charm - the same one he had since he was a kid - whenever he spoke he owned the courtroom, albeit in an irksome manner, holding everyone's rapt attention. It was impossible not to admire that, but that didn't mean she had to like him. Whatever relationship they could have had was destroyed a long time ago.

"Oh, Etienne, I want him on my team," Rill pointed at the boy with messy black hair. Etienne observed his movements. He had succeeded in every single task presented, through and through. His four leaved Grimoire caught her eye. Then she observed how Rill pushed himself off his seat as he watched the boy, ideas soaring in his eyes and an excited grin carved onto his lips.

"Sounds good."

Yet, upon the end of the Exam, they received only one new recruit, but they didn't succeed in getting the boy with the four leaved clover. And so settling with that outcome, they made their way through the markets once more before returning to their headquarters. 

"Hey Etienne?" Rill started. 

"Hm?"

"Are you okay? Your Mana spiked earlier during the exam today," Rill pointed out, making motions with his hands to mimic an explosion.

"Oh... You noticed," she said, but she was hardly surprised.

"Is it because Solid was there?" 

"H-How'd you know?!" Etienne gasped.

"It was so obvious! You were glaring! Like this!" Rill narrowed his eyes and fashioned his best impression of her frown, earning an amused giggle, "Anyways, just don't mind him, okay?"

"Easier said than done," she huffed, "His presence is intimidating. Every time I see him, something inside me twists and I just lose all sense of collectednes."

"Well here," He said, stopping in front of her, "Close your eyes."

She arched an eyebrow quizzically, "Here?" A little skeptical, she eventually let her eyelids flutter close.

His favorite objects materalised next to him - a paintbrush and a new palette of blues, from softly new to strong and deep. He covered the edges of the brush with soft blue foam and swept it across Etienne's forehead. She raised a brow, a baffled look on her face, "Rill..." She began, her eyebrows crinkling together at the weird sensation of paint, "... What exactly are you doing?"

"Well... Blue symbolizes calmness, so I painted it on you!"

"Right..." She said slowly, a chuckle escaping her lips, "Okay. Sure."

"It looks good! Really!" He insisted, "And plus! Solid isn't that intimidating! No one is more intimidating than the sister of the Wizard King."

"Oh, shut up," she punched his shoulder playfully. She ran her fingers over the dried paint on her forehead, "Hey... Do you ... think we would've been friends if we hadn't met that day? If I hadn't gotten into a fight with the Silvas?"

"Yes! I knew I wanted to be friends with you when we met. I don't think that would change if we had met several years into the future..." He replied immediately. Etienne was amazing at hiding her feelings. But after knowing her for so long, he found that he was able to see through her many facades. The loss of her friendship with the Silvas still impacted her, no matter how hard she tried to deny it.

So when he saw the deflated look on her face, he quickly added, "I'm really glad we're friends. Really, really glad!"

His lips parted, emotions tangling themselves at his throat. Would she think he was weird if he said what was on his mind?

"I'm glad too," she smiled.

He wanted to tell her that when her eyes locked into his, it always felt like he could see galaxies instead of just pupils. In a way, it made him feel like everything was possible in this world, like he could conquer anything.

His mind started to wander. Were they ever strangers? He wasn't sure they were. That day he saw her there was something even then, though he didn't know what. There were things he wanted to say to her, things in his heart too tangled and elaborate to translate. But all he could say in this one moment was that he wanted to comfort her.

He grabbed her hand before she let it fall to her side, "Oh, I know. Let's ask Walter to make us some tea! You can put me under some sort of cosmic spell so I can see the milky way, and I can try to recall it in my paintings afterwards! Wouldn't that be fun?" He was grinning from ear to ear as they made their way back home, hand in hand, furious blushes on their faces.


	4. Awards Conferment Ceremony

"And you, my little sister, with twelve stars earned, I bestow upon you the title of Grand Magic Knight, First Class."

"Why, thank you, great Wizard King," Etienne bowed in mock courtesy, "And I'm sorry it took me so long to claim."

Etienne had received this title long ago, the same time she was titled Vice Captain of the Azure Deers. Yet, piling atop of unfortunate coincidences after another, she hadn't been able to claim the physical award up until now. 

He merely chuckled at her comment before he ruffled her hair, "Keep it up."

"Keep encouraging me and I might steal your title from you," she joked.

"I might just let you have it," he retorted, earning a startled look from Marx. 

"Wh-WH- Wizard King!"

"Kidding," she said quickly, "Julius can keep it."

With more than twenty years between them, Etienne never felt like she and Julius were particularly close. Crowned the Wizard King since Etienne was a toddler, and, between the lectures from Marx, the paperwork mounding his desk and the heart to discover new magic each day, he barely had any time to train her. So he had entrusted her to the two Royal families and one Noble family he thought was most compatible with her Magic. These are of course, the house of Silva, Vermillion and Vaude.

Despite this gap, there was always an unspoken bond between them that was by no means breakable. He would have her covered, like she would always have his back. Not that she would ever need to. 

"Yay! Good job, Etienne! I'm proud of you!" Rill engulfed her in a big hug, admiring the pledge she received.

"Ow, ow, you're hurting my back," she groaned. He loosened his grip immediately.

He gasped, eyes already overflowing with worry.

"...From carrying this squad. You know, cause all my Captain does is paint pretty pictures," she sighed melodramatically.

Rill jutted out his bottom lip in a mock pout, "It's not my fault that fighting with you gives me inspiration to paint!"

She was about to make another comment when she saw someone approach her from the corners of her eyes.

"Asta?" 

"Oh! You're that girl from the entrance exam!" He exclaimed through mouthfuls of food, "I didn't get your name... But I got in the Black Bulls, look!" He pointed at his cloak confidently. 

"What girl?" Someone asked behind him.

Asta turned, "Oh, Noelle! She's the Vice Captain of the Azure Deers, and the Wizard King's sister! ... Uh... Her name is... Uh..."

"Etienne. Etienne Novachrono," Noelle finished for him. She flipped one of her pigtails over her shoulder, "It's been a while."

"Novachrono?" Another voice chimed. 

Next to Asta stood the new recruit who had caught her attention at the entrance exam. Beside him were Mimosa and Klaus, both of whom Etienne has met before. The former from the House of Vermillion, and the latter from taking the entrance exam with her.

The fact that Noelle and Asta were here meant that her brother had taken quite a liking to them... As she predicted.

_Hold on. If Noelle was here, then..._

Almost immediately, Etienne's eyes flickered over to the members of the Silver Eagles who were present. As expected, their eyes lingered on the youngest Silva sibling. Full of hatred and disdain. 

Etienne scowled. She remembered the days where she was forced to become the warrior instead of the cosseted, the protector and not the protected. Those days where Noelle had to endure those taunts from her family. Thinking back to it now, she could hardly believe she was ever friends with them. But what could she have done at the time? She was barely ten.

"Well, look at them tear into me. Good thing I'm used to it," Asta said in-between mouthfuls of food.

Etienne broke herself out of her thought bubble. As usual, the people present in this room had been unforgivingly discourteous at the presence of a peasant. 

"You seem to forget you also have a peasant in your squad. The peasant who's forgotten his place since everyone fawns over him because of the four-leaf Grimoire he has," Leopold cut in.

When she was younger, she had no problem getting along with Leopold. She remembered how he profused his love to her one time when he was seven and she was nine. Mereoleona had snickered at her brother's declaration and Fueguelon had shaken his head, chuckling to himself. However, as Etienne's age was closer to the Silvas, she preferred to stay there instead, and that was where she met Solid Silva - who had declared her his rival in their very first encounter. 

"No, no... The most useless fool here..." Solid's voice destroyed her train of thoughts. A cruel sneer formed on his face and he leaned forward, eyes bearing straight into Noelle's, "Is you."

When Etienne was younger, she could only think of fond memories when she thought of Solid, but now... All she could see was anger. Red. Bright, burning red whenever she thought of him.

Noelle froze. Tension played over her features as Solid poured his drink down his sister's face as the smirk on his face widened.

"You've basically been exiled from the Silva family. I'm surprised you had the nerve to go back to the Noble Realm," Nebra added, a distasteful look on her face. 

Everything played in fast forward after that. Etienne's eyes grew wide as she watched Asta swing his sword forcefully, clashing, then cutting through Solid's magic.

"Who cares what you think of us?! Just you watch I'm going to become the Wizard King!" He clenched his fist, a vein popping out of his forehead as he made his big proclamation. He swung his arm once more, erasing Nebra's mist magic, "Apologize to Noelle!"

"Water Magic: Holy Water Bullet," Solid commanded, directing his attack at Asta.

"No! Please stop!" Noelle pleaded. 

"Ah... This sucks," Etienne said, her tone light and casual. 

"I gue-" Rill stopped when he looked at her. He could feel the cold fury unraveling with dangerous intensity. A burning animosity was developing in her golden orbs, and he found that this in turn, made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

"Stop it, Solid! Don't!" Etienne snapped. Their eyes locked only momentarily before she shouted, "Cosmic Magic: Andromeda's Vanity."

"Etienne!" Noelle said, "Be careful...!"

Andromeda's Vanity was a spell based off the legend of a woman so vain, she caused her own daughter to be chained to a rock as a sacrifice to the gods for offending them. Etienne traced the shape of the Andromeda constellation in midair, reciting the four main stars to give a triangular shape alignment. From this came a barrage of chains, and Etienne refused to lose another second, "Trap."

Shackles tied themselves around Solid's ankles and wrists. Chains so long that it was wound all round his body, locking him in place no matter his futile struggles.

"Let me go, or you'll regret it, you freak!" He yelled, his eyes flashing indignantly, "You'll get what's coming to you one of these days!"

Before Etienne could respond, Rill stepped in front of her. It was like something clicked in his mind.

He chuckled at Solid's words, "Now, now, you shouldn't say something like that." Despite the lightness of his voice, his eyes were devoid of any frivolity. He walked over to Solid, his Grimoire appearing next to him. In that instant Solid's skin greyed. His mouth hung with lips slightly parted and his eyes were as wide as they could stretch.

"You really shouldn't," he repeated, with the same blithe tone. 

"Hey... Is Captain Rill mad? He's usually so cheerful..." Leopold asked his brother. 

Etienne followed after Rill, leaning closer to Solid, perfectly composed and uttered just three words, "I don't care." And with that, Solid's fuse simmered and fizzed, then he exploded with unrestrained fury.

"Oi, this is getting out of hand..."

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"Solid."

Nozel's voice distinguished itself from the others. As he took steps forward, the entire room almost trembled at the intensity of his Mana alone, "Don't be so quick to use your magic on a mere peasant like him." He glanced over at Asta.

Fueguelon strode forward at the same time, unleashing his magic as if it was the only one strong enough to challenge the Captain of the Silver Eagles. 

Rill twirled his paintbrush around his fingers, laughing half-heartedly as he flipped the pages of his Grimoire, "I guess Fueguelon is on our side too."

"It's okay, Rill," Etienne said in the same light-hearted manner, "But you're right. You shouldn't threaten people like that," A small laugh escaped her lips as she summoned her Grimoire, "Or would you like us to show you what'd happen if you do?"


	5. Flashback: Let's Try Understanding Each Other

_"Etienne! Oh, Etienne, thank goodness you're here!"_

_Desperate arms wrapped themselves around the ten year old girl the moment she entered the Boismortier mansion._

_"Ah-"_

_Etienne jumped at the sudden impact, "W-What's wrong, Mrs. Boismortier?" She exchanged a look with Walter, and it took less than a second for the realisation to sink into her eyes._

_"Where have you been, Etienne?!"_

_"I..." Etienne bit her lip. She couldn't really say she had been cruising around a Dream World solely based off someone's imagination, "I was training with my friend, Dorothy. Sorry, I didn't realise how much time has passed."_

_The middle aged woman held a strong grip on Etienne's shoulders. Her bottom lip trembled as she spoke, "P-Please... Rill... He... He's ... You're the only one who can... P-Please..."_

_Etienne carefully pried the woman's hands off her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze, "Okay, Mrs. Boismortier. Is he in his room?"_

_She sniffled, wiping her tears with a jewel-lined handkerchief, "Yes. He refuses to let anyone in. Please be careful, dear."_

_Etienne made her way upstairs, pinching the hemline of her dress so she doesn't trip on the fabric. It had been a week since Rill received his Grimoire. According to Walter's letters, he had refused to leave his room, flailing spells of destruction with his Painting Magic._

_She took cautious steps towards his room. Even as she marched down the halls, she could see that the door was no longer intact. All she could hear was the crunching and breaking of objects._

_"Rill?" She knocked twice on what was left of the door._

_He sat on an chair in the middle of the isolated room, head down and paintbrush in hand. His bedroom wasn't just a mess, it was a disaster zone. It looked like a drunken cyclone had erupted in his closet, strewing his clothes across the floor, then made it's haphazard way across to the rest of the furniture. The only things left untouched were his blank canvases._

_"Leave me alone."_

_A blast of red paint was flung towards the door, and Etienne barely dodged in time. She had met Rill nearly three years ago, yet they have grown unbelievably close since then. She was his first real friend after all._

_"It's me, Etienne. I'm back from training."_

_"I said, leave me alone!"_

_She poked her head inside and saw the momentary hesitation before he flicked his paintbrush once more. Red paint tainted the wall, exploding into the dry air, beautiful, powerful. Rill didn't look back once._

_Etienne gritted her teeth and forced her feet forward, flinching as pieces of debris scarred her skin._

_"Go away!"_

_Another blast._

_Pieces of wood and steel from the ceiling showered down, scratching at her skin as she trudged on. The first time she had met Rill, she remembered how odd it was for her to make a connection so fast, to give her trust so easily, tentative though it was. There was something in the way he smiled, a warmth, a genuineness, a softness of spirit she just couldn't pass up._

_"Rill -"_

_"I said go away!"_

_Before he could dip his paintbrush in his palette, she knelt down and placed her palm on the floor. She recalled her training with Dorothy._

_When Etienne had met the Captain of the Coral Peacocks, she immediately took a liking to her, and the same could be said vice versa. So Dorothy had taken Etienne under her wing for intense weeks of training, albeit constantly distracted by other various topics that girls talked about._

_'Having a powerful imagination for powers like yours is incredibly important', Dorothy had said, 'Wonders beyond your comprehension, fears waiting to be faced, kingdoms waiting to be conquered, lands waiting to be protected, skies waiting to be admired, wilderness waiting to be explored. All of that, in your mind. Use it as a tool. Use it to protect the people you love.'_

_Etienne took a deep breath. She could feel her Mana flowing through her, floating around her head like a silvery halo._ _The colors of a thousand saris swirled in her mind like so much water going down a celestial plug hole._

_In the blink of an eye, the wooden floor had transformed into a dark blanket, contrasting with blacks and yellows, and the occasional white, which were shaped like circles and crescents. Bands of stars dotted the blanket in a intricate pattern._

_Rill finally stood and turned around, his eyes growing wide when he saw her. A large cut on her forehead that oozed dark congealing blood immediately captured his full attention._

_"E-Etienne?! Oh... Oh no! I'm sorry. Are you okay?!" He rushed to her side, fingers shaking as he attempted to stop the bleeding. He whipped out his brush and conjured up a roll of bandage._

_As he proceeded to tend to her wound, she placed a hand on where his hand was. She felt comforted by the warmth he radiated against her cheek, "Isn't it beautiful?"_

_Rill had been too occupied by his own mind that he had completely overlooked the scenery that presented itself around him. Immediately he knew she had used her magic. His face flushed red when he noticed how close they were, and pulled his hand away._

_"Wow..." His eyes gleamed in awe as he realised they were briskly floating amidst the glistening musical notes of a starlight serenade, emanating out of nothing, but had enrobed the brimless sparkling pool of the galaxy._

_"I'll do this as many times as you want. Although, they have to be cosmic or planetary based ... "_

_Rill felt the corners of his lips tug into a small smile. The room no longer felt like a colossal monochromatic canvas._

_In the distance though, he could hear the loud sobs of his mother downstairs, shrieking words he wished he could unhear. He fell to his knees afterwards, fiddling with his fingers as he remembered why Etienne had come to see him._

_"What's wrong?" She asked, eyes full of worry._

_"Etienne... I... I can't draw or paint the way I want! It's not fun... It's so boring," he said._

_"Boring?"_

_He sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration, "Forget it. No one understands how I feel."_

_Etienne bit her lip as she considered her next words._

_"That's not true."_

_"Really? My mother asked me not to draw anymore. She says no one will accept me."_

_"I accept you," Etienne said, no signs of hesitation in her voice. He glanced up at her and she continued, "I think... People are just afraid of what they don't understand. They tend to stray from that."_

_"Is that why people stray from you and me?... Cause they don't understand us? ... Cause we're not normal?"_

_Etienne's eyebrows scrunched together as she recalled the first time her ability manifested. Uncontrollable magic that could had the potential to destroy the whole universe._

_She recalled the vile names Solid and Nebra had called her. They were no longer friends now of course._

_From that day onwards, still bearing the scars that they had engraved in her, and to prevent people from making comparisons, Etienne has held off from telling people her last name. They always had the same look on their faces. From that day onwards, she started to fear the change in their personalities, and that they would use her in a way that would benefit them._

_"Perhaps, but maybe normal is really just a nice word to make boring people feel better, " Etienne whispered, "So... Why don't we try understanding each other...?"_

_It wasn't like they didn't understand each other at all. The whole reason they were able to build such strong trust and form an indestructible bond was because they were able to understand each other. Of course, in this sense, humans are more than just shallow vessels. There were always more to uncover and explore._

_"I..."_ _When he saw her radiant smile, h_ _is eyes lost their harshness, becoming rounder, more glossy. He let his face flood with a smile too, "...Okay."_

_"That being said, your magic is so great that some people might have trouble understanding it." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You know, there's a canvas on which you can display your magic to the fullest potential. Have you heard of the Magic Knights?"_

_"Magic Knights? ... I have. Didn't you train with one recently?"_

_"I did. She was so cool! And I learned so much! So... If you join, maybe you'll finally be able to draw the ultimate masterpiece. To your heart's content."_

_Rill's eyes sparked with excitement at the sound of that, "Okay. I'll do it. I'll join the Magic Knights."_

_"Good!" Etienne laid herself down on one of the protoplanetary discs, the sensation of wafting through the milky way bringing her some sort of peace. Rill proceeded to lay down beside her._

_"Will you join with me?" He asked. His heart thumped loudly when he noticed the lack of space between them._

_"Me?" Etienne closed her eyes and hummed, "I'll join of course. When I get my Grimoire. You forget I'm a year younger than you."_

_Rill chuckled, "Right! I keep forgetting."_

_Etienne knew Rill loved seeing her magic in action. His eyes would light up, and she could tell that a million new ideas were streaming through his brain. Like now._

_"Can I paint your imagination again?" He asked._

_Rill called it her imagination due to the sole fact that this wasn't any sort of spell. It was only made possible through the intricate web of ideas that ebbed through her mind. Infinite dreams of scarlet and gold, sable and onyx, colours ignited for all who cares to see._

_"I was wondering when you'd ask that. I'm sure you can paint something better than this old thing," Etienne giggled, her eyes following different starlight entities. She felt Rill scoot a little closer to her, and she froze, her cheeks flushing with colour. Suddenly, the strings of constellations had turned into dust, a gale in the distance blowing the ashes towards them fiercely. There was a deafening crack and the space they were in started to fragmentize._

_Etienne gasped, fearing her power had wrenched out of control again, but relief flooded her senses when they landed back in Rill's bedroom._

_"Sorry. My concentration must have haywired..." Etienne muttered, turning away to hide her rosy cheeks. She could almost imagine Dorothy pinching her cheeks and teasing her relentlessly._

_"Eh... I liked space better," Rill frowned at the broken pieces of furniture, "I guess I'll have to clean this up."_

_"I'll help."_

_"By taking us back into space so I don't have to?!" Rill's eyes gleamed with excitement._

_Etienne rolled her eyes and laughed, "You wish."_

_She leaned against the wall, catching her breath. She had used up a lot of Mana for that illusion. A lot of concentration. Mana went into every little detail, from the five senses to the nature of the illusion itself. Yet, at times, she didn't have what it took to have full control yet._

_"Hey, Etienne, did you see the bottom half of my desk?" Rill asked, assembling the remains of what he could find._

_"Huh? No, I didn't."_

_"Hey, Etienne, do you want to get some waffles and tea after this?"_

_"Do you even have to ask? Walter's waffles are absolutely delicious."_

_"Can we paint while we're at it?"_

_"Mhmm."_

_"Oh, oh! Can I paint you too?"_

_"Why do you even ask? I agree every time."_

_"Yay! Can we start understanding each other now?"_

_"I think we already do, but yes!"_

_"Can we start by telling me your last name?"_

_Rill's question was so out of the blue that Etienne didn't have time to hide how startled she was._

_'Freak.'_

_'I don't want to be friends with someone like you anymore.'_

_'You're a monster. How could you do something like that?'_

_'And you dare call yourself by the Novachrono name?!'_

_When she felt him grab her hand, she snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes met his and she felt goosebumps trail down her arms, a type of warmth in her chest._

_He held her gaze as he squeezed her hand, "Trust me."_

_In an instant, she was reminded of Mereoleona's words, so fierce and enormous at the time. Words that still, and would always hold a place in her heart._

_She paused and sighed. Rill had never given her a reason not to. Honestly at this point, it was a miracle she had managed to keep it a secret for this long. She knew wholeheartedly that she trusted him. She didn't doubt that he wouldn't leave her, yet what was this unpleasant weight in her chest?_

_Taking a deep breath, she quickly said, "Novachrono. Etienne Novachrono."_

_"N-Novachrono?! Like... The Wizard King?" Out of shock, he dropped her hand and staggered back._

_"Bingo! I'm his sister," she said, trying to keep it as light hearted as possible, but the quiver in her voice gave it away._

_There was a silence that seemed to stretch for eternity for her._

_She let her arms hang loose on her sides and glued her eyes to the ground. She was so sure he wouldn't react like this. She was so sure he -_

_"That's so cool!"_

_A hand jutted itself in front of her and she snapped out of her thoughts. In just moments his mouth gives up on the stoicism he had projected, breaking into a boyish grin._

_His other hand grabbed her hand and laced it with his outstretched one. His lips stretched into a wide grin, "It's nice to meet you, Etienne Novachrono. I'm Rill Boismortier. And from now on, I promise that I won't let anyone else hurt you ever again."_


	6. Star Festival

As the name itself suggests, the Star Festival was a festival of lights. Feathers and sparkles, smiles and laughter. Along the usually dark wintry lane shone hundreds of lamps; illuminating with their flickering candles. The light was cast every colour by the tinted panes and Etienne couldn't help but be reminded of candy.

The costumes were as colourful as a summer garden. Bold yellows, magenta, cyan and emerald green, There were sequins sparkling in the brilliant afternoon sun and feathers of every colour.

Etienne's cinderella-esque evening gown was all done in syrupy pastels and shades of violet flecked with white that seemed to undulate of their own volition. Although she truly felt like a princess tonight, she could feel a little seed of worry growing inside her. She wasn't used to so many people staring at her. Not with creepy, lustful eyes, at least. Where the hell was Rill when she needed him? She knew she shouldn't have shown up five minutes early.

"What's a fine lady like yourself doing alone at the Star Festival?" 

Etienne inhaled sharply as she prepared herself. On her right, coming her way, was a man with a bouncy stride, a crooked grin plastered on his face. A creepy laugh resonated from his throat as he drew nearer, a bottle of alcohol in his hand which he took constant gulps of. 

"I'm not," she replied, hoping avoiding eye contact would show how uninterested she was.

"There's no one here," the man pointed out, taking another swing from his bottle. He burped.

"I'm waiting for someone." Etienne plastered on her fakest smile.

"You won't have to wait with me."

"Okay, listen here - "

"She's with me, actually!" squealed someone familiar.

"Dorothy?!" Etienne's mouth hung open at the jolly girl coming her way, "W-Why are you're awake?! Is there some sort of big catastrophe?"

Dorothy giggled, ruffling Etienne's hair - which she had combed today, for once. "I had to save my favorite Vice Captain from creepy men! And, I have to speak to your brother after the ceremony so... This is a cute little coincidence," she smiled sweetly whilst shooing the man, "Go away now."

Dorothy played a similar part to Mereoleona in the webs of Etienne's life. While the latter displayed long-standing tough love, the former showered her with pampering and coddling. To Etienne, these two figures were the elderly sisters fate never let her have.

The man grunted in annoyance before begrudgingly trudging away. He shot daggers through the corners of his eyes.

"Okay. Now that's done. I can't let my little junior be alone. Do you want to come with me?" Dorothy offered.

"I'm actually waiting for Rill," Etienne smiled apologetically, "Maybe another time." 

Dorothy's eyebrows wiggled as her lips curved into the widest smile possible. She sighed, "Dear, dear, when are you two going to get together? Do it, already!"

Etienne gulped, "I- I... Do what, exactly?!"

Dorothy rolled her eyes playfully, "You know what I mean. I'll always be rooting for you both!" She ruffled Etienne's hair once more before hopping away, "You're welcome in my Dream World any time! Please visit! I could even play match maker there if you bring him..."

When Dorothy was out of sight, the man from earlier turned back on his heel. 

"Well, well," he smirked.

"...Yes?" She sighed exasperatedly. 

"You're alone now," the man said, inching closer towards her.

"I'm not alone," she gritted, growing more irritated by the second.

"I don't see anyone anymore," The man oggled around before letting his gaze fall back to her, "Why not come back to my place? A beauty like you shouldn't be alone on a night like this." His eyes lingered on her breasts and Etienne could feel a vein popping on her forehead. She clenched her fist, ready to draw blood if need be. 

"I can't believe I'm repeating this. I'm actually waiting for someone -" She began, only to be cut off by a hand slipping itself in hers.

"She's with me!" 

"Doroth- ... Rill...!" She gasped when she saw him waving to the man, a simple signal prompting him to leave. 

The man fumed before reluctantly turning away, for good this time, "Damn Captains... Always cock-blocking me..." He grumbled under his breath.

"I didn't need you to do that," she complained.

"But you looked like you were about to tear him apart!" He protested.

Etienne's eyes trailed down from her arm to their intertwined fingers. Her blush seared through her cheeks and for a minute she thought her face was on fire. She cleared her throat, "You make a fair point. Took you long enough to get here."

"Oh!" Rill gasped. He let go of her hand and jumped back to look at her. Framing his pointers and thumbs together, he squeezed one eye shut and peered through it. His lips stretched wider into gaping grin, "You look like you came out of a painting, Etienne!"

Her cheeks must be beyond an attractive rosiness by now. "T-Thanks?"

He broke away from her and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers once more like it was the most natural thing in the world. 

"I got us a special spot to watch a special competition!" He said excitedly, swinging their entwined hands back and forth as they threaded past the crowds. 

"Special competition?" She puzzled.

When they got to their destination, Etienne's mouth dropped open at the sight of Captain Charlotte and Vanessa passed out on a bench, multiple jugs of alcohol next to their heads. Asta, Noelle and Yami stood there, mirroring Etienne's bewildered expression. 

"Th-This ... This is the special competition?!" She deadpanned, "Noelle, what happened?"

"I... don't know... I-I thought Vanessa could drink a lot..." Noelle murmured. 

"Well... I thought it'd be fun to watch, but looks like it's over," Rill laughed apologetically, "Oh, I have an idea! Since they're passed out, why don't we continue on for them?!"

"What?!" Etienne stammered.

"Oh, you kids are quite ballsy," Yami noted, "I like it."

"R-R-Rill and Etienne?!" Asta's mouth dropped open, "A-Aren't you guys like fifteen?!"

"What?! Stupid! They're like, twenty," Neolle swatted his head, "A-Are you guys really going to?! I mean just look at Vanessa, and she loves her alcohol!"

This got the crowd riled up.

"Guys, did you hear that?! The Captain and Vice Captain are going against each other!" 

"I bet the Captain's going to win."

"No way, the Vice Captain looks like she could hold her liquor."

Etienne gave Rill a playful nudge as she took her seat, "Sure you're ready?"

Rill grinned and sunk into his seat, "Yes!" 

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, like he was strategizing his way through the competition. He gulped and scratched the back of his head, "I'm sort of nervous..." 

Etienne laughed anxiously, eyeing at least a dozen drinks in front of her, "Why are we doing this again?"

"Ready... And GO!"

They exchanged a look before taking sip after sip of the first drink. A sour and vile taste slipped into Etienne's mouth and her face twisted in disgust. 

She coughed, her throat burning off-puttingly, and swung her arm out, "W- Wat- Water..."

It took less than a minute for her head to slump onto the table in front of her. The bottle of alcohol wobbled dangerously as her head hit the table. 

"Eti...enne?" Rill put down his drink. He inched closer and poked her face. Her head lolled to one side. He giggled. "Are you sleepi..."

Before he could finish, his eyelids grew heavy as lead and his head landed on the table with a loud thump. 

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but by the time she came to, fireworks were cutting through the black sky like they were super-imposed on the night, like the stars behind are only a backdrop brought in for the occasion.

"So pretty!" Rill said from beside her. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh, you're awake too?... God, my head sort of hurts," Etienne groaned. Someone had placed two mugs of water where the alcohol jugs were, and Etienne thanked whoever it was that had bestowed such graciousness upon them. 

The fireworks kept bursting through the dark night, fiery blooms amongst the stars. Rill was less interested in the display than in watching Etienne's expressions, how they lit up her face just as she smiled, like a perfect real life painting.

Not long after that came the announcement of the Squad Rankings.

"Crap!" Etienne gulped down the rest of her water, "Rill, do you think you could paint a wave for us to cut through?"

"Oh, good idea!"

With a snap of his wrist, the waves rolled in long and white fringed towards them. It reared the two up into the sky, earning howls and cries of amazement from the crowd, before wobbling and crashing down onto the stage. Water splashed into the audience, as well as the Captains standing near. People coughed and sputtered out water, the crowd divided into whoops of awe and whines of annoyance.

"And the Captain of the Azure Deers - Rill Boismortier... And his ... Vice Captain? Why are you here, Etienne?!" Julius cried out, his eyes growing wider at her flushed face, " Are you... drunk?!"

"No! Not anymore..." Etienne said a little too quickly, mumbling the last part to herself.

"We'll talk about this later!" Julius declared, as strictly as he could despite finding slight amusement in this, before proceeding to introduce the other Captains.

The Azure Deers placed last this time. Etienne was hardly surprised. During the attack that interrupted the Awards Conferment Ceremony, the Eye of the Midnight Sun had shafted her, along with many other squad members to another area. Despite effectively ridding the intruders from the Royal Capital, she couldn't help but grit her teeth in frustration when she thought about how easily she fell into the enemy's trap.

"Last?! No way!" 

"Hey, isn't she supposed to be the Wizard King's sister?"

"She placed last? Talk about failure...?" 

"Is she even strong?"

Etienne's could only stand still as she listened to the snides and remarks the people were making about her. How frighteningly odd it was for their personalities to shift in the blink of an eye when unpleasant circumstances were to unfold. 

"We placed last?! Oh no!" Rill said perplexed.

"It's cause all you do is paint stupid pictures..." Jack the Ripper pointed out.

"Hey, they're not stupid!" Etienne argued. She tried to hide her frown by averting her gaze, "... But I can't believe we lost to the Silver Eagles again."

Rill noticed straight away. He knew that whenever she mentioned that squad, it was always an indirect reference. He felt frustration build up inside him a little.

"It's okay, Etienne! We'll beat them. I'll work hard, I promise!"

His hand reached for hers and they interlocked as he pulled her closer to him. He planted a kiss on her cheek, and Etienne could have sworn her face went ablaze with a hundred shades of red. Warmth spread through her limbs and her mind felt like a pleasant buzz.

Rill never drank to excess but the giddiness he felt from just the touch of her skin muzzled his higher thinking in much the same way. With the flood of endorphins urging him to continue, he said, 

"Oh, I know! We could get married, so you can change your last name to mine."

Etienne's face split into a wide, nervous grin before casting her eyes out to the audience briefly, then returning to Rill's still smiling face.

This, of course, earned a big smack on the head from the Wizard King himself.


	7. Royal Knights Exam

"We will now begin round five! I Team and J Team, come forward!"

Etienne squealed with delight, before assembling with her team. A man from the Coral Peacocks introduced himself as Roland.

"Is Dorothy sleeping again?" was the first thing she asked.

"Ah... Yes. The Captain is always sleeping," Roland said.

"Eh? Where's our other member?" Etienne tilted her head up to look at the scoreboard. She waved to catch the judge's attention, "Excuse me? Is there an 'X' on our team? Only Roland and I are present for the J Team."

"Cross? What a strange name," Asta mused.

"I think it's just 'X', Asta," Mimosa corrected shyly. 

"Ah... Er... Is there an X here?" The judge called out, "X?"

Glances were thrown around to determine the identity of the mystery participant. 

"...I am X!"

A man with what looked like a paper-mache mask stepped forward, equipped with an Azure Deer cloak and an eerie similarity to - 

Etienne's mouth hung open and she slapped a head on her forehead, "...I should've known." 

As if on cue, the mask melted away, revealing the all too familiar person underneath it.

"X is me! Rill Boismortier! Are you all surprised?" He announced, throwing his arms out and grinning from ear to ear as he presented himself. 

Etienne's eyes narrowed as her lips thinned into a straight line, "...No," she sighed, "Why are you even participating? You're a Captain!"

"Huh? Wait... Were Captains not supposed to enter?!" He sputtered.

"Not true. We're glad to have you!" Julius assured. Etienne could already feel his enthusiasm from where she was. 

"You just want to see his Painting Magic don't you?" Etienne asked plainly. 

Julius's eyes shone with eagerness and passion as he nodded. "I really do!" He admitted, a little sheepishly.

"Well, I did tell you I would work hard to get our ranks back up, so here I am! Are you happy, Etienne?" Rill asked excitedly.

"That's what I'm here for as well," Etienne confessed, "What luck though. We're on the same team."

"T-That's not fair! The Captain and the Vice Captain on the same team?!" Someone interjected.

"Yeah! How is that fair?"

"There's no need to be afraid everyone. This is your chance to defeat them and make a name for yourselves!" Julius explained, "This is an even battlefield!"

"T-That's true... Let's do it. Anything's fair game in this competition," Someone spoke. The other participants began mumbling to each other, sizing their opponents and devising up plans for their matches against them.

"I'm not going to be taken down so easily," Rill said, a smile tugging loosely on his lips.

"What enthusiasm! I am deeply moved, Young Master Rill!" Cried a voice.

Walter made his grand entrance as always, appearing in a flash faster than a normal eye could see, "And Lady Etienne! Master Rill told me that he had proposed to you! I am so proud! So... So proud!... To think this day has finally come." There were waterfalls of tears gushing from his eyes at this point, "I'm sure Madam would be delighted to know you will produce beautiful grandchildren soon."

Etienne's brain stuttered for a moment before his words fully sunk in. She choked several times, her face turning red before she inhaled sharply.

_...Huh? Did she hear him correctly?_

"P-P-Proposed?!" She sputtered out.

"P-P-Proposed?!" Julius exclaimed. 

"P-P-Proposed?!" Everyone else echoed, causing a ruckus of murmurs and shouts of encouragement.

"G-G-Grandchildren?!" Julius stuttered. Inside, he was a tiny bit happy. He wanted to be an uncle!

"You're always so dramatic, Walter," Rill chuckled as he made his way to the battlefield, "He was just talking about what I said during the Star Festival!"

"B-But..." Etienne followed suit, and she felt her face light up in a dozen shades of scarlet, "P-P..."

The examiner paid no attention to this. He brought his hand down and declared, "Okay, Team I and Team J. Begin!" 

Etienne smacked her hands onto her face. Time to focus. But her heart was beating so loudly it was all she could here. It was way too erratic for her liking.

Rill tilted his head upwards and made a frame with his fingers, "Hey, Etienne, isn't the sky beautiful? I wonder if I could get that colour if I used lapis lazuli. Did you know? You could grind up precious blue stone and get blue paint?"

Etienne's eyes drifted towards the sky. She cocked her head to the side, deep in thought, "And for the clouds, you could probably use whitewash... From seashells. Wait, this is deja vu. I think I already told you that once..."

"Woah! Etienne, you're so amazing!" Rill marveled, grinning from ear to ear, completely ignoring her last comment. 

"R-Right..." Roland muttered, standing on the side, unsure why he was paired up with such a peculiar couple.

"Alright, let's do this! Let's create a beautiful piece on this canvas known as the battlefield!" Rill declared, holding up his paintbrush and waving it around.

Only mere moments later, he had fallen straight into the enemy's trap. Powerful green vines shackled him into one place as he struggled against them, "Etienne! I got captured! Save me!" 

Etienne deadpanned, "What was all that talk about raising our ranks?!"

"Hey... Uh... Vice Captain, shouldn't we save him?" Roland questioned with uncertainty.

Etienne hummed thoughtfully, "Nope!"

Their enemies took their stances as they shouted in harmony, 

"Flame Magic: Flame Spike!"

"Ice Magic: Icicle Bridge!" 

Rill had a stunned look on his face, pausing to take in the magic fired at him at great speed. Etienne could tell from the look of his face that he was bursting with liquid sunshine from within. As if there was something hidden in her subconscious, Etienne's eyes glimmered with watery tears as she watched him. Pleasant memories overflowed her brain, and she could see it so clearly, those early days where he cast away all the negativity she had received and replaced it with some sort of pure renaissance. 

_This really is the best._

That was the only thought flashing through Rill's mind at this point. As he watched his opponents' attack gaining speed and closing distance to him, he could only think of one thing more beautiful than his urge to paint. His lips stretched into a smile as he thought back to the times of his childhood. Their childhood. She had said that he could paint the ultimate picture.

_On this beautiful battlefield._

_And he wanted to._

_For her. With her._

A smile came upon his face as he brought his brush up.

_You were the one that made me human, after all, Etienne._

"Picture Magic: Twin Storms of Fire and Water!" 

As he flung his attack, Etienne rushed towards the remaining person in the I team, "Where are you looking?! Your opponent is me!" She outstretched both hands, one palm facing her, one palm outwards, "Cosmic Magic: Attraction and Repulsion."

The trees started to creak and the dust was whipped up into the air, semi-blinding her opponent as he struggled to keep balance. Etienne beckoned the remaining member of Team I - and pulled by a force greater than air itself, he could do nothing but thrash around as his body violently flung itself towards the other side of the field. At the same time, a spinning bohemoth lashed through the field at an insane speed in the opposite direction, shattering through the crystal effortlessly. 

"We did it!" Etienne and Rill cheered in harmony. 

"...The crystal is broken! Team J wins!"

"Etienne, that was amazing!" Mimosa praised post-battle.

"T-That was really cool," Noelle complimented, with a awestruck look on her face. 

"And so have you, I'm so proud of both of you," Etienne smiled warmly.

A slight blush tinted Noelle's cheeks before she had the chance to turn away. She scoffed and threw her hair back, "Of course you are. I'm royalty, remember?"

"Etienne! Let's paint something before our next battle!" Rill called out eagerly, beckoning her over. Walter stood next to Rill, a tray of freshly made waffles and beautifully scented tea, the proudest stream of tears running down his cheeks.


	8. Flashback: Choices

_"Golden Dawn."_

_”No, Azure Deers! Captain, please!”_

_“Hm... Obviously, she'd want to be in the best team. So, my team, the Golden Dawn.”_

_“No, mine!”_

_"Mine."_

_The other Captains could only watch in silence, hands up and throwing glances between each other as they wondered why or how this commotion had even started._

“ _Uh, ahem...” Cleared the Captain of the Blue Roses, keeping her hand up relentlessly as well, “I believe we should let Etienne pick for herself.”_

_"So?" Yami asked, running his forehead, trying to diffuse a headache._

_”Etienne's my best friend!” Rill protested, tugging at the cloak of his Captain. He was only sixteen at this time, and had just gotten into the Azure Deers last year at his entrance exam, “Pleaaase!"_

_”I met her first,” Langris countered. He glanced at his Captain, “Captain William, I do believe she would be a good addition to our team.”_

_”And that is precisely why I have my hand up, Langris. As do the other eight Captains,” William replied calmly._

_Dorothy snored softly, mumbling something under her breath. Yami’s ears twitched and he sighed, “I can never tell what she’s saying. Speak up... And stop sleeping!”_

_”So, Etienne?” Charlotte prompted._

_The person in question gulped. Her eyes darted back and forth between all nine risen hands and bursted into a puddle of nervous laughter. She did consider Golden Dawn. She had heard many great things about their Captain, that, and the fact that they had been number one in the rankings for many consecutive years._

_Beside her, Klaus, a fellow participant who she met gawked at the Captains’ responses. He had never expected to meet someone this powerful, and so early on in her years. "S-Surely, you'll pick the Golden Dawn?" He asked._

_Before she could even open her mouth to speak, Rill hopped off the stage and did a somersault before he landed on his feet. He looked up at her with big, pleading eyes,_

_“Please join me! I promise I’ll work REALLY hard. I always do when you’re around, because you give me all the inspiration I need anyways! I’ll surpass my limits and even work my butt off to become Captain! Give me two years and I’ll get there, I promise!” He held his pinky up._

_The weight of his words truly made a mark on her. It wasn’t like she had never realised this but hearing this from him confirmed one thing in her mind. Being around him made her stronger too._

_And so, she laced her pinky with his and said, "Please let me join the Azure Deers."_

_After the ceremony, Langris had invited her to the House of Vaude to meet his fiance._

_“Are you cold?” He asked along the way, offering her his Golden Dawn cloak. She smiled, returning his gesture with a smile as she wrapped it around her shoulders._

_"Thanks."_

_Langris' smile fell faster than the laws of gravity when he saw his brother approach them. "Tsk." He looked away, his eyes swirling with contempt as he purposefully slammed his shoulder against him._

_"Hey," Etienne warned. She halted. "Are you okay, Finral?"_

_"Oh, Etienne. Aren't you kind. I'm fine, I'm fine! Don't worry. You guys have fun!" Finral replied lightly, waving as he trudged away, a solemn expression in his eyes._

_"Why do you always defend him? He's pathetic," Langris spat, picking up his pace._

_Etienne followed him out the front door, letting the door slam behind her, "Because he's your brother! He's really kind, you know..."_

_"I don't care. You sound like Finesse right now."_

_"Hey wait!" She jogged alongside him, "I know it's putting a lot of pressure on you. It's like a scale, right? The more his failures weigh him down, the more there is to expect of you. I know. I understand how that feels," she said. This made him stop and turn back at her. For a moment, there was a flash of sincerity in his eyes, a glimmer of the lost little boy Langris himself was trying so hard to protect with a facade._

_"I don't care," he repeated, quieter. He cleared his throat._

_"Okay."_

_”Anyways, as I was saying, I don’t want to marry that woman. She’ll just get in my way,” he scowled, but his features did a full 180 when he spotted his parents, “Ah. Mother and Father, Etienne had chosen to join the Azure Deers today.”_

_"Hi, Mr and Mrs Vaude," Etienne greeted, no longer surprised at the split second change between Langris' personality._

_"Oh, honey, why? You could have been with Langris in the Golden Dawn!" His mother exclaimed._

_"I too thought you were Golden Dawn material," his dad seconded, “Did Captain William reject you?”_

_"Ah, no, but well...” Etienne laughed nervously, scratching her head, "See, I think I’d grow to be a lot stronger when I'm with this one person. I think we make each other stronger. And he happens to be in the Azure Deers."_

_"Shame. You know, Etienne, I thought you and Langris would get married one day. My, my. Well, that's okay, my dear son has Lady Finesse now." She winked at Etienne, "If you ever change your mind, dear..."_

_"At least she's not in the Black Bulls,” they tittered as they strolled away._

_"Seems like they approve of our marriage one day. So what do you say toss Finesse over to my useless big brother?"_ _He hovered over her body and leaned in, the palm of his hand caressing her waist. It was a teasing touch, one that led her leg to spasm from the unexpected abruptness. Her face flushed at how close his face was to hers, "L-Langri -" Before she knew what was happening, he had this lips locked onto hers in a kiss. It took a few seconds for her to come back to her senses._

_"W-What are you doing?" She gasped, almost toppling over as she took a step back._

_He pulled away and let his hands fall to his side, blinking momentarily before staring at her._

_"W-What do you mean ..."_

_He picked at imaginary lint and pills, played with his hair until he was satisfied, and shifted from one foot to the other. He was nervous. He didn’t want to screw up. He knew in his heart that if his sweater was a little wrinkled or a hair was slightly out of place, it wouldn’t matter, but at the moment it was something he could control. He needed that control right now._

_He looked away, jaw tense. Then he laughed, surprising her, "I can't believe you fell for that. Finral and I made a bet on who could kiss you sooner. And I won. As always."_

_The dusty layer of pink on her cheeks faded. She laughed incredulously and cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed, "You're lying."_

_Then his eyes focused on her with a type of intensity that she couldn’t place, "I am not."_

_"You know, if you... like me you could just say so."_

_"Etienne, why do you do this?"_

_"Do what?"_

_"This," he waved his arm around, " This thing where you push and push and push. The same way royals would dangle money at peasants before tucking it back in their pockets. You clearly like someone else but you still..." He groaned, "Just... Forget it."_

_"Forget what?!" She exclaimed, irritation building up. "You're the one who ... Who kissed me! And then, told me that it was a game between you and Finral?! As if he would do something like this! You and I both know he wouldn't do something like this!"_

_"Why?!" He sneered, "Why don't you think he would? There's nothing he can do that I can't, and I can do it ten times better. There's nothing anyone is better at than me. Not anyone in the Golden Dawn, and not anyone in the Azure Deers." He spat out the last two words like it was venom in his mouth._

_“Langris,” she said, effectively silencing him, "Where is this coming from?"_

_But being a fifteen year old with matured friends and seniors like Dorothy and Mereoleona, she had learned to think in ways people her age didn't. So she understood. She understood the underlying roots behind his anger._

_Envy._

_She could see it in his eyes._

_And he could see that she saw through him so transparently._

_She closed the gap between them slowly, and without realising it, his back was pressed up onto a wall, the side of her arm on his chest. His breath hitched._

_"What do you think you're doing?" He said, narrowing his eyes._

_"If you want me, then you have to earn me. Own up to it, at least," she snarled, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. She glared at him with steely resolve, "We've known each other since we were five. Don't play stupid games with me."_

_He held his breath. It was only a matter of time, right? Even if anything good could come out of this, it was only a matter of time before he would lose her, because he wasn’t good enough for her. She was perfect, and he was this awful, ugly monster filled with rage and anxiety and hatred and–_

_He swatted her hand off, and took measured steps forward, towering over her. "I don't know what you're talking about. Do you think I'm in love with you or something?! Cause I met you first?" He scoffed as he walked away, his body rigid and a mixture of emotions boiling in his chest, "You sound absolutely idiotic."_

_She flinched at the harshness of his tone, "Right."_

_She bit her lip, tasting the tangy taste of iron. What is this tugging feeling in her chest?_

_"Etienne, what happened?"_

_She whirled around and forced a smile, her body easing when she saw him._

_"Rill! Has it been an hour already?"_

_Wait... why the hell did she feel so guilty?_

_"Are you okay?" He asked, "Why do you look so sad?"_

_She licked her lips and swallowed, remembering that she just had her first kiss taken moments ago. She raised her eyebrows, feigning_ _innocence as she let her head fall back. The ceiling of the the Vaude Mansion had suddenly become very interesting. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I'm fine."_

_"Huh?"_

_"Let's get some desserts, by the way! It's been a while..."_

_“You’re evading,” he stated, not sure why his patience was wearing so incredibly thin today. His eyes fell on the cloak she had around her, "Oh. You're wearing... Did you ... change your mind about joining the Azure Deers?"_

_Her lips were pressed tightly together as she continued to stare off to the side, "No, it's just..."_

_"No. You do. You look so regretful! This is my fault isn't it..." He trailed off, hiding the Azure Deer cloak he had brought behind him._

_"N-No...! I..." She cleared her throat as she desperately tried to gather her thoughts. Rolling her shoulders back, she willed herself to have some fucking courage, damn it. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Just... Langris, he.... kissed me.”_

_Rill's eyes immediately widened, the confused look in his eyes completely diminishing, replaced by hurt. He aggressively wiped as his eyes as he swallowed the lump in his throat, "Oh! You should have told me! I won't bother you then! I'll - I'll go paint!"_

_The faux nonchalance in his tone was painful._

_She rapidly shook her head, desperately trying to get him to understand, "No, no, no. It wasn't like that. It really wasn -"_

_"No, that's okay! Really! I'm just very... Surprised... I guess...? I didn't know you liked him that way..." He let out an awkward chuckle._

_She blinked at him slowly, unsure that she heard him, looking absolutely flabbergasted, "I... Wh-What?! I-I don't! You know I lik -"_

_"No, it's fine! Yeah! It's okay!"_

_He turned away from her. Why did his heart feel so heavy? He should paint, he decided. Channel all this cluster of strange emotions into his canvas. He should go back and paint. Yeah, that's it. Shut himself in his room for a bit and paint. He would talk to her later when he felt better. But why... Why did it feel like a nail was being hammered in his heart when she told him that?_

_He sighed. He should calm down. Calm down then apologise for acting in such a peculiar manner. She must be confused. Then again, so did he. Why did his heart hurt so much and why did his eyes sting when her words replayed in his mind? Why did it bother him so much? She’d feel sad if he was, and he knew that. He knew he didn’t want that._

_"No! I... Do you realise that I..." She trailed off. She bit her lip and dug her nails into her palms, turning away from him. She took a deep breath to calm her ocean of thoughts, knowing she didn't have it in her, not right now, to tell him what she wanted to say, "I never imagined that this would be the way I told you I liked you. Yeah. There. I like you because..."_

_She gulped, inhaling sharply as she let she rode out her waves of emotions._ _She was staring resolutely down at the ground, holding her breath as she waited for him to say something. Anything, god damn it._

_“Rill?” When she got no reply, she squirmed, fiddling with her fingers. She tried again, “Rill?”_

_A small wave of relief washed over her as she whirled back, finding no one in sight. At least, she could have another shot at her confession this way._

_“...Because you never gave up on me.”_

_Two years later, Rill became the youngest Captain in history, Etienne raised her ranks higher than she'd ever aimed, and as promised, they both surpassed their limits, and they vowed they will continue to, together._


	9. Langris Vaude and Etienne Novachrono

Etienne scratched at the sides of her arms as she could do nothing but watch from the sidelines. She paced back and forth before deciding to address the elephant in the room. Well, to be more precise, battlefield.

"Julius, please," she said sternly - for the third time.

"Etienne, in battle, no one says 'go' and 'stop'. I'll stop them if things fall out of hand," Julius assured, wondering how many more times he had to reiterate those words. Etienne didn't need to say anything for him to notice the unsettling emotions that had settled on her features. 

"Have some faith in your friends," Marx reassured.

"It's not that I don't... It's just... It's already out of hand," she fussed before reluctantly going back to her seat. 

Even Rill had stopped painting and decided to focus on the grueling mess of a fight unfolding before their eyes. He would occasionally glance over at Etienne, make sure her head didn't explode from all that worry.

"Look. I don't agree that he hurt Finral like that, but Langris was... or is one of my best friends. He just needs help," she explained, unprompted. Rill could only nod. At times like this, it was best to let her speak uninhibitedly. 

Etienne hugged her knees close to her chest as she watched Asta's sword nullify Langris' magic. No matter how many times she had seen it, it never failed to amaze her. She grimaced when one of Langris' dangerous spells almost sliced Asta up in half. Mimosa and Zora sat further along the field, the former healing the latter.

"Please, please, please, be safe," she murmured, like she was stuck in a trance. She bit her lip, as her eyes darted back and forth between the elder Vaude brother, currently under Owen's best medical treatment, and the younger one, currently engaged in a ghastly fight. 

Dark spheres of Spatial Magic arranged themselves in an unruly fashion around Langris, launching themselves turbulently at whatever - whoever - got in his way. Despite this, Asta charged forward, heaving his sword up to his shoulder, his skin already ruptured above the growing purple blooms, but he shouted, before blasting it down, "Black Meteorite!"

Langris' lips formed into a bright false smile, hysterical laughter echoing through the fields as his spheres of Spatial Magic, firing themselves off so quickly all anyone could see was a blur of shades of black. Etienne froze. She knew this attack spell. Langris had practiced this dozens of times to perfection - ever since he was a kid. Yet, the object of his target was never a fellow Magic Knight. Never someone good. She felt a jolt of adrenaline course through her and she shot back up on her feet.

"LANGRIS, PLEASE STOP!" Etienne screamed before she could stop herself. 

Her feet slip outwards on the concrete as she bolted forward, the sudden intake of air shocking her throat and lungs as she inhaled deeper, faster.

"Etienne!" Rill shouted, reaching out only to grab the air, "C-Crap." His head snapped towards the Wizard King, who was already one step ahead. Julius stood still and his face warped in concentration. 

"Wait - Etienne, be careful!" Noelle shouted after her. 

"H-Hey!" Marx shouted after her.

With each footfall, a jarring pain shot ankle to knee, ankle to knee. Perhaps jumping up that quickly wasn't so smart.

"Both team's crystals have been broken. It's a tie!" She could hear the judge declare. 

The match has ended, but the fight has not.

Langris glowered down at Asta, "You peasant. How dare your soiled status and your failed power do this?!" He raised a clenched fist, his entire arm trembling with fury as he unclenched his palm slowly. Asta was sprawled on the ground, too battered to move. Langris laughed breathily, "Disappear."

"LANGRIS!"

Then he noticed her running towards him, and he knew it was her by her silhouette and by the way she made no sound at all. There was a small gang behind her. He indulged in a rare devilish grin, why did this remind him of the time they played tag when they were kids?

"Don't do this!" She cried aloud. Her lungs and heart were pumping, but the air didn't seem to be enough as panic trembled in her limbs.

"Do what, hm, Etienne? I'll kill you too."

"Don't touch her!" Asta yelled, shaking as he forced himself back up. 

"Etienne!" Noelle said, rushing to her side, pointing her wand at Langris.

"You may be on a roll lately, but you're still Black Bull flunkies. What do you think you'll do against the Vice Captain of the Golden Dawn?" 

"What do you think you can do against another Vice Captain, Langris?" Etienne countered. Her confidence grew when she felt Rill's presence near her. 

"Hm... And what do you think you can do against them with a Captain in your way?" He pondered out loud. He slipped his fingers into hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

Up close, Etienne could feel the intensity of Langris' primitively sinister aura to another level. It felt like a cloud - grave and purposeful, coiling stolidly upon whatever it came across, leaving it austere, miserable and dark.

"What the hell are you doing, Langris?!" She paled, "And... who the hell cares about status when they were trying to protect their precious friend?!" 

"Precious friend?" He spat out venomously.

"Your precious brother!" She stressed. Her eyes were pleading compromise but his showed no signs of adhering to middle ground. 

His grin stretched from ear to ear, his eyes wide and unblinking, "Precious?! Ha. You mean useless? You've been going on and on about this since we were kids. There's nothing he can do that I can't! Nothing! He doesn't deserve to be part of the Vaude famil-"

Before he could finish, her hand cracked across his face, snapping it back with the force of the blow. He staggered backwards, clutching the red welt she had left behind.

Watching with the rest of the Magic Knights from off the fields, Julius' eyes widened slightly at Etienne's harshness. His lips twitched, trying to suppress a chuckle, proud of the sense of mental fortitude and decisiveness she had accumulated over the years. From the looks of the other members of the Golden Dawn, they were equally as dumbfounded. For anyone else to slap - or attempted to slap - the Vice Captain would perhaps earn a death penalty from the man himself.

"Get a grip!" Etienne yelled, shaking Langris by the shoulders, "Who the hell do you think you are?!"

The only thing echoing in her head was the taunts and misery inducing insults she had received as a kid. _You dare call yourself by the Novachrono name?!_ The horrid little voice in her head mocked.

Dark shadows under Langris' sunken eyes, he growled, "Don't touch me!" He smacked her hands away. 

Instead of swaying from his outburst, Etienne stepped forward. One foot after another. It was like all the fear that was anchored in her heart had somehow morphed itself into some form of warped courage. 

"I know it feels like there's hate and enmity welled up in your heart. Like fury itself burning you up. ...Am I wrong?"

"Shut up. Just shut up."

Dark, static-like orbs glowed around his hands as he raised them in a defensive stance. She was about to counterattack when she saw something familiar in his eyes and knew in a moment that they, in very different ways, both wanted the same thing. Recognition.

She too at many points, have felt lost getting there, blind to the paths she was yet to see. But it was only through the people she had become acquainted with, the people she now held so dear to her heart, that she knew how to overcome that. Find the answer together.

_Julius. Mereoleona. Dorothy. Noelle. At one point, Solid, maybe._

_Langris._

_Rill._

"We can find the answer together," she murmured, a new type of consciousness alighting in her eyes.

_They've always comforted her instead of confront. Augment instead of argue._

Ribbons of anger unraveling in his eyes, he spoke with a coldness she'd never heard before, "Shut up. You don't understand. You don't understand. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAN-" 

"Etienne, don't!" Rill cried out, but he stopped in his tracks when he realised he had reacted a fraction of a second too late.

She had weaved past Langris' initial magic blast, coming out just barely unscathed. She winced at the pain but she threw her arms around him, and his body immediately tensed as they made contact. 

"LET ME GO! You'll never understand!" 

"I may not understand now, but I'll try my hardest!" She cried out. He stood in silence. "So... let's try understanding each other, okay?" She whispered, burying her head in his shoulders. His expression hardened, but his storm of attacks had come to a stop. "Whatever you do," she breathed heavily, dark bruises from earlier blooming and cuts lining her skin, "It'll be okay. You'll be forgiven. And if not by everyone else, then by me... Isn't that enough? Please... Please stop this madness."

There was a hung moment of silence before Etienne felt him twitch. She held on tighter. Then with a big sigh, she felt his shoulders deflate with ease. 

This was her chance. With no hesitation, she slipped behind him and whacked him on the back on the neck. He dropped to the ground face first with a thud.

"Oh, thank goodness," she heaved a sigh of relief, placing a hand on her heart. She finally tore her gaze away from Langris and up at her comrades. 

"W-What? Why are you looking at me like I've grown two heads?" She asked nervously when she saw their expressions. 

"Y-You just..." Asta trailed off.

"...Knocked him out like that..." Mimosa continued. 

"Etienne," Noelle squeaked out, enveloping her in a hug. Cheers erupted from outside the fields, fistsin the air and eyes flung wide. 

"She did it!" 

"The Vice Captain is truly amazing...! She stopped a monster!"

"She truly is the Wizard King's sister!" 

"As expected! She took him down single handedly!"

"She's an absolute goddess!" 

"H-Huh?" She breathed out.

_Wait..._

_Are they..._

_... Cheering for me?_

_..._

"Wow..." That was the only thing Rill could manage. His mouth was open, an awestruck look on his face.

He watched her watch the crowd, lost in the rhythmic percussion of their exhilarated hurrahs, her face aglow with the last orange rays before twilight beckons the stars. He moved closer so that she felt his presence, yet stayed quiet, allowing her to stay lost in the moment a while longer. Yet in the midst of the explosion of cheers, she looked at him. He wondered how it was remotely possible that fate favored him this much. His heart was somersaulting with her so close to him, her hair whipping haphazardly in a way he had come to adore and her golden eyes locking him in a trance with such intensity.

"You're ..." He trailed off.

_So beautiful._

_And now everyone sees it too._

"I'm..." She echoed, her lips tugging into a smile.

Before he had a chance to continue, Julius put a hand on Etienne's head, a proud smile on his face as he did so. 

_'See. This is all for you,'_ his expression seemed to be saying as he beckoned towards the crowd.

Etienne knelt to the ground and flipped Langris' body, hoping she didn't do too much damage from knocking him out. She breathed out another sigh of a relief when she saw the expression on his face.

His lips bore the semblance of a smile, just enough to show that he was enjoying his thoughts, whatever and wherever they may be.


	10. The Night Before the Plan

As Etienne's eyes opened, her limbs flexed in shock at the liquid surrounding her body. A nudge to her hips made her jerk upwards to see Mereoleona's smirking face.

"What's wrong? Did you fall asleep again?" She asked, "It'd be sad if you drowned in a hot spring."

Etienne's eyebrows furrowed in an attempt to remember the dream she had, "My head hurts. I've been having this recurring nightmare," She clicked her tongue, "I can't remember. It seems so real." She pulled her hand out of the warm water, steam clouding her vision as she looked at her slightly trembling hands. "I think... I was trying to save someone but I... died? I don't know."

Mereoleona gave her a long look before saying, "Whatever it is, you're powerful enough to defeat it. Look it in the face and beat the shit out of it. That's why you're here, am I wrong?" She stood, wrapping a towel around herself before stepping out of the hot spring. Without waiting for Etienne's reply, she continued, "Get some rest. The mission starts tomorrow. And you've fallen asleep twice in the last thirty minutes."

As far back as Etienne could recall, she's always looked up to Mereoleona. There was so much to admire, but her raw honesty was the best part. It's as if there was a force behind them, strong enough to shake the entire universe.

Etienne stood, ignoring the prickling chilliness on her skin as she stepped out of the water, "I'm really glad you're our Captain."

Mereoleona turned back to meet Etienne's eyes, "You've grown a lot, Etienne." She started to walk away, wrenching out the water from her hair, "Although... I still think you should've come with me to the wild. I could have trained you better than anyone."

"I know," she replied. Etienne knew it wasn't just her that had a high opinion of Mereoleona. The whole squad did. She never expected more of them that she gave of herself, and she expected the world from them. When Etienne was exiled from the House of Silva, it was Mereoleona who trained her. She had demanded every ounce of her being and then a little bit more. But what she gave in return was almost superhuman, hard to describe. Etienne knew from the start that she would have followed her anywhere, into any battle, no hesitation. 

She hummed absentmindedly as she wandered back to her room. The door opened before she even got a chance to touch her door knob. 

_... An enemy?!_

She kicked the door open ferociously, "Cosmic Magic -" She stopped abruptly, deadpanning at the sight in front of her. Covered in paint and streaked through with thousands of amazing colors, Rill knelt on the ground, creating swirls with every flick of his wrist, satisfying streaks of colour adorning the floor.

_Wait..._

_...The... Floor?!_

Etienne shrieked. She clasped a hand to her mouth in shock, "R-Rill?! This isn't your bedroom! T-T-This is a hotel! Oh God, what are we going to do?!" She frantically grabbed a piece of cloth, doused it in water and started scrubbing furiously. 

There, in the midst of patches of purple, green, orange and red was a mischievous head of spiky blonde hair, emitting bolts of electricity towards the ceiling. All that was distinguishable was a head and a protruding right arm. Etienne stumbled back in shock at the mysterious object. 

She knelt down to get a closer look. "Luck?!" There was no mistaking that mischievous glint in his eyes. It was him alright. "Why... Why are you ..." Her eyes bounced between Luck and Rill, then at the broken ceiling, and her expression morphed from unabridged shock to utter confusion, "Why are you both in my room?!"

"...I wanted to fight you, Etienne!" Luck explained, electricity crackling from his right hand, "I really, really wanted to fight you! Let's fight to the death, okay?!"

"No!" Etienne exasperated. 

"Well! I wanted to go to your room but when I came in, he was already here," Rill pointed at Luck's head with his paintbrush, "So I used Spring of Restriction on him!" He grinned at her like he was expecting a praise. 

"I really wanted to fight you!" Luck stressed.

Suddenly, the door flew open, revealing several faces, all mirroring the same bewildered expression. Etienne's head snapped towards the figures hovering at her doorstep. She slapped a hand to her forehead. There was no door. She had blasted it open earlier with excessive force. 

"Oh my god, this hotel room..." She muttered, shaking her head. 

"Oh, two boys at once, Etienne? You've grown even more than I thought," Mereoleona crossed her arms over her chest approvingly. A vein then popped on her forehead, "Or maybe I'll give them both a beating for -"

"What's so grown about fighting two people at once?" Asta asked.

Yuno narrowed his eyes at him, a look of incredulity at how clueless his childhood friend was.

Klaus cleared his throat multiple times, a furious shade of red making its way to his neck and face, "W-Well, you see, Asta, when two people, well in this case, three, consumm-"

Mimosa squealed in embarrassment and clamped her hands over her eyes, "Don't say that, Klaus!"

"What are they talking about?" Luck asked, looking at Etienne and Rill for answers.

Noelle flipped a pigtail over her shoulder, "Idiots."

"No idea!" Rill shook his head obliviously. 

"N-Neither!" Etienne turned her head to the side to avert the gazes of her teammates, but the sudden rosiness of her cheeks gave her away.

"What? What's all this commotion?" Zora poked his head through the door. He arched a brow and smirked, "What are you guys, stupid? They're obviously talking about making lov -"

"We are not!" Etienne shrieked, throwing a pillow at his face.

Etienne only met Zora recently, at the Royal Knights Selection Exam. He had chucked a stink bug onto her face, and in return, she had punched him.

But when she heard how his father was murdered, she immediately thought of her brother and felt an overwhelming feeling of pride at his slow but successful attempt to change the whole ranking system. She had complete belief that Julius could change the Clover Kingdom. As long as he was the Wizard King, everything would be okay.

"Making what?" Luck laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world, "No, no, I just want to fight! To the death!" A burst of electricity shot out of his palm and with a massive bang, striked the ceiling of the room. 

"What the hell?! Luck?! You should save that energy for tomorrow!" Asta said.

"Y-Yeah!" Noelle chimed in, "Also, what's the deal with that cracked ceiling? Speaking of which, why is this room such a mess?"

Mereoleona shook her head but her lips twitched like she was trying to suppress a laugh, "Do you all want to die?! This is a hotel!"

"Noelle, let's get out of here, Sisleona is scary..." Asta whispered, a little too loudly, earning a fierce glare from Mereoleona. 

"You're too loud, Stupidsta!" Noelle clamped a hand over Asta's mouth, successfully muffling his voice. 

Luck hopped up and dusted himself off once Rill undid his spell. "I really wanted to fight... But okay, I hope the enemies tomorrow are strong! I can't wait!" He continued to shout feverishly as he pranced out. Several exchanges of ' _goodnight_ 's and ' _good luck_ 's later, the crowd had disbanded.

"Ah! Etienne, your room is all broken. Do you want to sleep in my room or something?" Rill offered. But looking at Etienne's rosy cheeks, he started to stutter, "I-I mean I'll s-sleep on the fl-floor of course!"

"N-No! That's okay, you can sleep with me!" Etienne blurted out before she could stop herself, "W-Wait! I didn't mean sleep as in... s-sleep, but like you know, actual ... sleep..."

"U-Um... Okay."

Rill found himself growing flustered as they continued to make their way to his room. _What was this knotted feeling in his stomach? Was this what people meant by having butterflies?_ _How many love songs had he heard that said, “She takes my breath away”?_ Now that line made a lot sense. His head was buzzing with possibilities and his fingers wouldn't stop clasping and unclasping each other no matter how much he tried.

When Etienne entered Rill's room, her eyes immediately landed on the bed. She sat down on the very edge, and anticipation tingled through her like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in her toes. She propped herself up and brushed past him as she prepared herself for bed.

Then, without exchanging another word besides ' _good night_ ', they both got under opposite sides of the blanket, backs facing each other.

A few seconds passed.

Then a few more.

A minute.

"Rill - "

"Etienne - "

They both flipped over simultaneously. Realising they had spoken at the exact same time, they laughed. 

"You go," Etienne said, drawing the blinds up.

Rill looked up contemplatively, "I know I said I joined the Royal Knights to get us back on top, but this is really dangerous."

"I know... I might not be able to protect you tomorrow," she joked. Her smile fell when she saw the look on his face. She had never seen him so serious before.

He shifted, "You know I'll protect you no matter what, right?"

"I know. And I'll do the same, of course. I'll always have your back, you know," she saluted playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood. Rill's eyes still had that pensive intensity in them.

“Why are you so tense?” She whispered. Asking this seemed to only worsen his tension. 

"Promise me if something happens to me, and you deem that I'm beyond gone... That you'll leave and protect everyone else," he pleaded, his eyes searching hers for answers.

"No! What are you saying? What if I asked you to do the same for me?" She said immediately.

Without thinking, he pulled her close to him and held her tight, "I won't leave you, Etienne! Nope! Never, ever."

Despite the heaviness in her stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. She sunk into the warmth of his side, appreciative of the simple gesture. She poked her head out from his embrace and wrapped her arms around him. The lack of space between them made her heart pound and echo in her ears. 

She opened her mouth to insist, but she was suddenly stopped as his mouth covered hers. She inhaled sharply. It took approximately one point two seconds to realise Rill was kissing her and a further three point five seconds to realise that she was kissing him back. He drew away quickly. She could hardly speak.

He nervously looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction. _Did he just do that?_ When she stayed silent, panic started to well up in his chest, "Ah...! I- I'm sor-"

She leaned forward and connected their lips again. 

"Please don't ever leave me," he whispered against her lips, tugging her a little closer to him.

"Why would I do that?"

They pulled away, a small smile on their lips and tints of red on their cheeks.

Her head lolled on his shoulder, and she touched her lips. _Did that just happen?_

Looking at the boy, she admired the way the moonlight illuminated his features. Everything about him in this light made him look absolutely ethereal. She wasn't sure where her sudden burst of confidence came from but after a moment of silence, she blurted out, "You know I like you, right? ... Like, a lot. I really... really like you." 

She held her breath as she waited for his reaction. In the silence, seconds seemed to drift in slow motion.

"Rill, are you asle -"

"O-Of course I... I like you too! Etienne, I'm so happy!" He bursted. He buried his face in her shoulder curve, his hands flexing around her back as he pulled her closer. Right now, he didn't care about the echoing of the tumultuous thudding in his chest or the blush searing through his cheeks. The feel of her body so close to him soothed him more than he had expected. The amount of happiness he felt right now was indescribable.

"Whoever thought this would happen tonight..." Etienne murmured, allowing herself to sink into his arms, "Everything's going to be okay. Tomorrow will go exactly to plan, right?"

"Of course! Ah...! I have a really strong urge to paint right now. I feel like I could paint anything. The ultimate masterpiece."

_'I want to paint it for you.'_

He paused, debating whether or not to step out of bed to do that right now. He decided against it.

Etienne yawned, thinking it was a pretty good idea. Before she could say anything, her head reached a comfortable spot on the pillow. She turned into his side, tucking herself under his chin. He lifted his hand to tidy and run through to the ends of her hair and she hummed, pleased at the soothing action as she started to drift off. She wanted desperately to stay awake, to savor this moment longer, but her eyelids drooped and she let herself be taken to the oblivion of sleep.


	11. The Night Before the Plan Part 2

“Hey, Etienne? Can we kiss again?”

And with that, their lips crashed against each other again, her eyes closing tightly as she smiled into the kiss. Only moving for a bit to mumble, “You’re the captain, how can I say no?”

Noelle screeched in embarrassment before saying shrilly, "Stop with the PDA!" 

Klaus adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, "Y-Yes. Noelle is right."

Etienne giggled at that and smiled apologetically, "Sorry."

Not too long ago, Etienne had screamed herself awake, which in turned shook Rill awake. Needless to say with all that screaming, they were unable to get back to sleep. And so, Etienne and Rill had wandered around barefoot at 2:31 in the morning, yawning and groggily rubbing their eyes when they spotted an ajar bedroom door. When they peered through the door, they were invited in immediately. It seemed like it was a sleepless night for quite a few people.

"You two are so adorable!" Mimosa gushed. 

"I was wondering when you two would get together," Zora added. 

"W-What?! How would you... We literally met a week ago!" Etienne exclaimed. 

Zora shrugged, "I'm that good."

"Eh...? Was I that obvious?" Rill wondered.

"So obliviously obvious," Zora replied, shaking his head.

"I didn't know!" Asta's hand shot up, "I thought you were best friends! Like Yuno and I!"

"Don't compare us to a couple, Asta," Yuno grunted.

Luck bubbled up with laughter, "Oh! That's what you all meant when I was in the room. Sorry, Etienne!" He stuck his tongue out playfully, "That doesn't mean I don't want to fight you both though. So... Can we?"

Etienne scooted away from Luck, laughing nervously.

Zora looked around at the group. “Okay. Now that we have a lot of people. Let's play. You all know the rules. You have five fingers, the last person standing wins since they’re the least dirty or criminal.”

"Huh? Huh? What are we playing?" Rill asked, turning his head questioningly. 

"No," Etienne gasped when it downed on her.

"I didn't want to play this stupid game, but I guess if even Stupidsta's playing, I'll have to," Noelle grumbled to herself and reluctantly held up all her fingers.

“I didn’t even wanna play either. I'd rather fight with one of you..." Luck whined, but held up his fingers too. 

"We're really playing Never Have I Ever?" Etienne deadpanned. 

"It seems so," Yuno sighed.

Klaus groaned and shook his head, "You're lucky I'm bored."

Etienne nudged his arm. “Come on, Klaus! I can see it in your eyes you do.” She chuckled at him while Zora started everything off. 

“Alright you guys, I'm sure we’ve done some pretty stupid stuff, so let’s see who’s going to win.” He resituated herself on the couch that surrounded the coffee table and other seats that they all occupied. “Never have I ever..." He paused and everyone leaned in, "wanted to sleep with someone in this room... Or well, date someone in this room, for all you innocent little brats."

The only people to put their fingers down were Etienne, Rill, Noelle and Mimosa. Everyone else looked between the four of them. Everyone’s eyes bulged out of their heads.

Etienne threw her head back and laughed against the couch as her laughter rang through the room. She jabbed a finger at Zora, “That was deliberate, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was, because the two of you need to cut the sexual tension and fuck already," he shrugged and the others' eyes grew even bigger.

Rill spat out his drink at those words and patted his chest several times, his face already turning red. Etienne narrowed her eyes, "You mean me, right?"

Rill looked at her open mouthed, like he was confused why she had to ask a question with such an obvious answer.

"Kidding!" She stuck her tongue out.

 _Did you mean sleep or date?_ She wanted to ask, but instead she said, "Noelle and Mimosa?!" Then turning to Zora she smirked, "You know we aren't the only obliviously obvious people here."

He chuckled, "You're right."

"WHAT?!" Asta leaned in close to Noelle, who squealed and almost punched him, "Is it Klaus...? I mean, I guess I can't say I understand the appeal -"

Mimosa crossed her arms at this, "Asta... Well... F-For me, i-it's..."

"Oh! Is it Klaus for you, Mimosa? It is, isn't it!" Noelle interrupted, catching on to Mimosa's scheme. She took this chance to move a little closer to Asta.

"Klaus, I had no idea you were appealing in the eyes of women," Yuno stated.

"I-I'm -"

"If girls like you, that means you're strong right?! Right?!" Luck pressed on, thrusting his face closer and closer to Klaus.

"W-Wait!" Mimosa protested, "It's not Klaus, Asta! It's actually y-"

"Oh, I'm actually really tired! Stupidsta, you should sleep too," Noelle yawned loudly. 

"I-I-" Klaus wheezed, his face red as a beet, "I... I.... I-"

Zora slapped a hand on his forehead, "You brats are so clueless."

Etienne leaned in closer to Rill.

Her top lip brushed across his so fleetingly it felt like air, and he couldn't help but chase her lips as she pulls away slightly. She smirked, "Do you want to continue this somewhere else?"

His eyes widened and he blushed a dozen shades of scarlet when he understood what she meant. He looked around to see if anyone was listening before grabbing her hand and heading back to their room for a looooong, long night.


	12. Lira

After miles and miles of trekking west of the Clover Kingdom, the Royal Knights were greeted by an abundance of mist. It was so thick that it swallowed the base of the cliff, smothered the greens of the leaves, the grasses and the underbrush. It leached out their colour, turning everything the same stony grey as the rock.

Several large rocks hovered in the air due to the large concentration of Mana. Their target? The largest one, which housed the Eye of the Midnight Sun's hideout.

The Stone Creation magic had been able to manifest a stone formation of a location they could observe. Etienne admired its meticulous representation of the dungeon as she familiarised herself with the network of tunnels, stairs and chambers in the dungeon.

That was half an hour ago.

-

"Hey, so where's your boss?" Rill asked, eyeing the two enemies he had captured with his magic, "I'm dying to paint, tell us!" The tails of his snake coiled themselves around the two cloaked figures. The sand based serpent spat fire out of his mouth, drawing closer to its enemies.

"Hey, come on! We have no time to waste!" Etienne urged, rambling towards them. As she opened up her Grimoire, the two enemies started to wail. 

"EHHH?!" She jerked back, for a moment wondering if she had done something she didn't intend to. She took a hesitant step forward, "W-What's going on? Are you guys okay?"

Their eyes bulged with horror, their mouths rigid and open as the surface of their skin began to crack like an incomplete paper mache. Green Mana erupted from their limbs, oozing upwards like some sort of vacuum was sucking them up. They groaned and twitched uncontrollably as pieces of their skin melted into the air, along with their bodies.

"W... Huh?! What?! What, what, what?!" Rill stumbled back, eyes full of question marks, "I didn't even do anything yet!" 

"Me neither..." Etienne winced. Spooky didn't quite cover it and eerie was an understatement.

"What's going on?" Puli frantically searched for an unprecedented ambush.

"Are you okay, Captain? Vice Captain?" Fragil asked.

"Did they get the magic stone?" Ruben gasped, clenching his fist in frustration.

"What in the world..." Etienne looked at her teammates, who reflected her expression. It had rendered her speechless, "W... What just happened?"

As if in attempt to answer her question, a sudden blast of gold erupted, glowering down on the rest of the team - with the exception of herself - like some sort of spotlight search. Mana enveloped their bodies, radiating in the form of dangerous spikes around them.

"Guys... Your bodies..." Etienne trailed off, shivers running down her spine. She swallowed hard. _What if this was an ambush? Some sort of surprise attack they hadn't anticipated? What was this intense amount of Mana surrounding them?_

She staggered backwards and stared at her own hands. No. She was normal. No light. 

"H-Huh? Huh, wait what?" Rill gasped, examining his body and the glow that surrounded it now.

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt in any way?!" Etienne rushed to his side.

He swallowed any hysteria he had building up inside him when he saw Etienne's frightened expression. 

He made his way to her and took her hands into his, "Etienne, I'll be fine! I feel an intense amount of Mana inside me, so I'm really not sure what's happening ... " But despite how much he tried to be brave for her, his voice shook and his hands trembled. He could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness, and the confusion wasn't helping.

"Are you sure? You don't... I mean - ... Y-Yeah. You're okay. You're okay. Everything will be fine, okay?" Etienne repeated, mustering all the courage she had. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

Two red tattoos started to etch themselves onto Rill's cheeks, and his ears grew longer, pointer. The same transformation seemed to be seizing the rest of the team and Etienne felt her stomach flip in an unpleasant way.

"Ril -"

He glanced upward, his mouth pursed but slightly open and loose. His eyes were fixed as if he was looking at something a yard behind her head. She called his name again. He blinked, refocused. A faraway look in his eyes.

She felt his grip loosen and she barely had time to react before he pulled out his paintbrush and pointed it at her. He stared blankly at her with wide, horrific eyes. Frightened by his expression, it must have also matched hers as she took a sudden intake of breath and stumbled back, losing her balance and almost crashing to the ground.

"Rill?" She asked apprehensively, "This isn't funny."

He turned slowly, his eyes holding nothing but contempt. There was a sort of irritation in his anger, a sort of impetuousness to it. Her breath caught in her chest and then she knew the fear was gaining on her. 

"Rill? Who's that? My name's Lira."

Once more, that look in his eyes catapulted Etienne into a series of ugly 'what if's. She shook them away forcefully. Now was not the time to wallow in fear, but it felt as if her brain was full of static, either firing off a million unhelpful thoughts at once or offering nothing at all.

"Lira?! What?!" Etienne sputtered, "What are you talking about?! You're the Captain of the Azure Deers! And I'm Etienne! Your Vice Captain and your best friend!" 

With a cold look in his eyes, Lira uttered, "Me? Have human friends? ... Never."

"H-Huh?! What the hel -"

"Silence, human. Do not talk to us."

"Frigal?" She tried, exasperation riding her tone, "You're human too! You're..." She turned to her team mates one by one, all with the same marks, the same pointed ears, and the same disgusted look on their faces, "Ruben? Puli?"

They stood still for a moment before Puli said, "Oh. She must be talking about these bodies."

"Tell me. Why do you look so doubtful and quizzical?" 

Etienne turned to face Lira, shaking her head in disbelief, "Because I ... I don't understand."

_Rill's face. Rill's voice. Rill's Grimoire and magic._

_So why..._

"All you need to understand is that you will perish. You and all the humans of this kingdom," Lira smiled, a stark contrast to his threatening words. He sat atop a cloud he had painted, "Painting Magic: Four Headed Lindworm!" 

"What did you with Rill?!" She demanded, gaining speed fast enough to appear in front of him. He jolted backwards at her superhuman momentum before thrusting his body back to create distance between them. The serpent he had created furthered the distance between them as it bared its fangs. 

"I told you. My name is Lira. Whoever Rill is, he's dead." He flicked his wrist and a string of fire balls unraveled from the monster's tongue, like yarn unfurling, as the creature advanced. Etienne tried to dodge a swing from it's massive claws, but her hesitation cost her a struck to her side and she tumbled into the dirt.

"What... Did you say?" 

_...Dead?_

For a moment she was lost in a transitory evocation of her childhood. Their childhood. The amount of times he had asked to paint her, the way he would grin like an idiot when she agreed (and she always agreed), the way his eyes twinkled with wonder when she showed him her magic, the amount of times they stood in the mirror for hours making silly faces and sweet smiles so he could paint the perfect picture of them both.

"No. No, I refuse to believe that..."

Her mind churned, evoking the remnants of last night. The frenzy of sparks in her brain when he touched her in places she's never been touched, the warm smiles and laughter, the stumbles and fumbles of their first time. The way they laid next to each other panting until they caught their breaths afterwards, how they drifted off to sleep tangled in each other's arms. 

"Wake up!" She screamed suddenly, in attempt to drive those memories away. _Stop it. Stop thinking. Stop thinking of that. Stop._

_He's not dead. He's not dead. He can't be dead. No. I refuse to believe this. He can't. He can't._

Though her eyes were open she couldn't think of why; her heart was pounding, mind empty.

"Let me take care of this one," Lira said to his comrades, who stood to the side with smiles of trusting confidence. He turned to Etienne, pointing at himself, "Does this human mean something to you?" He laughed at the expression on her face, "Wouldn't it be nice to die in his hands then?"

Etienne looked upwards and to her horror, a violent burn of red and orange rented the air with a shower of deadly sparks drawing close. Lira flicked his wrist and the flame blasted outward towards her -

"Why?!" She screamed, her fists pounding with the ground, "Why are you doing this?!" She squeezed her eyes shut as she awaited impact.

But the fire only just scratched the side of her arm as the attack flew past her, propelling towards the ground instead. 

At first Etienne couldn't move, her brain unable to make sense of the input from her ears and feet. The ground was moving and the noise was like extended thunder only worse because the vibrations are coming from everywhere. 

"Eh? I missed?" He looked at his hand disappointingly, "Hm... I must be rusty."

There was a long, suspended moment where Etienne found herself hanging in mid air. 

_"Did you just..."_

She heard someone calling her name.

_"...Try to kill me..."_

Pieces of brick and steel decorated her view as they came crashing down at her. Her eyes started to sting. Why is this happening?

Someone called out her name again. Louder, this time.

_"...Rill?"_

A flash of colour appeared in front of her, and before she could comprehend who it was, they swung her up in their arms as if she was nothing more than a ragdoll. 

"...Why?" She whimpered, taking a few shaky breaths before her expression hardened. He still held her gaze, unsympathetically, coldly. "I'll come back for you. I'll save you, I promise! You can't be dead..." Her body was being carried away from the entirety of crashing debris and dreams, and her eyes had welled up with so many tears that everything was nothing more than a blur. She decided to close her eyes. Maybe that would rid her of this indescribable pain she felt. 

The next time her eyelids fluttered open, she was surrounded by silence and familiar faces.

"Asta? Yuno, Noelle..." Etienne's eyes scanned her surroundings little by little, "Nozel? Zora? And..." She gasped and jolted up, "M... ereo.. M-M...?! No, no, no, no, no ...Why is she... What... What happened?!" Seeing the woman she admired in such a rough shape reminded her of all the ache in her heart. She placed two fingers on Mereoleona's neck, checking for a pulse.

"It's okay, she's alive." She let out a big sigh when she detected one, but her worries refused to leave.

As Asta and Zora briefed her on the events that had unraveled, Etienne's breathing started to hitch and her knees grew weak.

"So they're possessed by elves?"She leaned against a tree and slid down, her mind empty and void of solutions. She shook her head incredulously, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Then she noticed how Yuno had the same marks on his face.

"Hey... How... did you turn back?" She asked with great urgency, grasping at his cloak.

Asta and Yuno exchanged a look. Yuno spoke, a little startled, "I ... don't know yet. I just know I'm overflowing with Mana..."

"Is everyone else okay?"

"They are," Nozel cut in, "But for now, we have to assume they are our enemies. Those taken by Elves. Do you understand?"

"Hey, go easy on her," Zora piped up.

"No, it's okay. I understand," Etienne said quietly. 

Asta sat in front of her, "Rill wouldn't want you to be worried. Right? You have to be strong, for him too!"

She offered him a small smile in exchange for his attempt at comfort, "Y-Yeah... I know.. I just... I never thought we'd ever be on opposing sides of the battle field. Not this way."

Noelle could only watch the tears drip between Etienne's fingers, raining down onto the parched soil. Seeing someone she always looked up to in such a sad state made her heart tear. Etienne never cried. Not when Solid and Nebra abandoned her, not when she tore her ligaments from epic falls, and not when she lost a fight. 

"They are on their way to the Royal Capital now. We must go," Nozel declared firmly. He looked at Etienne, as calm and composed as always, and said, "We must protect the Kingdom. We will save him, you have my word, but that requires us to work together." 

"... Us?"

Etienne looked down, images of Solid and Nebra in her mind, then replaced by Rill's smiling face. Her hands balled into fists and she took a deep breath.

"Okay. But first, we need to find my brother."


	13. Rivals ...?

The Royal Capital had fallen. Screams of panic and fury rung through the air like a terrible cacophony. They arrived only a couple of minutes ago, and their first destination, of course, led by Nozel, was the House of Silva.

"Solid, where's Nebra?" Nozel questioned.

"She ... She's being healed right now," Solid stammered, "By one of the butlers." 

"Come. We are going to the Shadow Palace," Nozel commanded. They wasted no time climbing back up on his eagle. 

"The Shadow Palace actually exists...?" Etienne muttered, "I thought it was just some tale from a story book Julius used to tell me about... Things can't get any worse."

"If I had to guess where the Wizard King was, he'd probably be in there fighting the leader," Nozel contemplated.

The moment Etienne, Nozel, Noelle and Solid attempted to enter the Shadow Palace, a vortex of Mana picked up their bodies like they were nothing, dismantling them apart from each other with a force that puts a groundbreaking tornado to shame.

Etienne couldn't help but let out a small cry as gravity pulled her at an inhumane force. At last,he found herself descending into some old ruins.

"Solid...?" She asked, her head still spinning. 

He grabbed his head as well, still feeling the impacts of the vortex, "Where are we? Where are the others?"

Light shone through one singular window, shadowy arms of branches stretching across the ancient ruins. There were large columns around them - they were the only complete thing, everything else had worn and crumbled - their decay the only marker if time in a place of uncounted days. The Shadow Palace, huh?

Etienne carefully examined their surroundings when her eyes stopped on a familiar figure.

"Yami?... Yami!" Etienne breathed out a sigh of relief, jogging towards him, "Did you just get here? Is everyone okay? Why are you here?" She glanced at his feet - or rather, the two figures sprawled at his feet, "Why are Finral and Langris on the ground? Are they dead? Where's Julius?"

"Okay, calm down. I did. Depends. To kill that bastard elf. They fought. We won. Not dead. And..." His eyes then flashed with an emotion Etienne couldn't recognise. Hesitation? He took a drag of his cigarette and scratched his head.

"What?" Etienne could feel the dread creep over her like an icy chill.

"He..." Yami sighed, casting his gaze away. He paused, taking another drag.

"He..." Etienne urged. 

After another long pause, he continued, "...Look, I'm sorry. He's gon-"

The little voice in the back of her head cackled with laughter _. Ha. Things just got worse. You're alone. You're going to be the next Wiza-_

"No," Etienne said immediately.

"N... No?" He repeated, unsure if he heard her correctly. 

"No," she echoed in the same nonchalant tone. She shook her head.

"No, he's not. No, that's fine. Yeah. Right. No. We should uh," She blinked her tears away, rubbing them with the back of her hands, "There's dust in my eyes, sorry ... We... We s-should p- protect everyone," Etienne nodded as she said this, but she couldn't keep her voice from cracking, "There's a stronger Mana above us. I can... I- I sense it. You should go. I don't know who our enemy will be but whoever they are, I'll defeat them."

_You're next. Wizard Que-_

"I'll take care of Finral and Langris. I'll protect them and look for Owen. Go!" She pleaded, her face contorting into a mess of emotions.

She couldn't look at Yami. Or Solid. So she just stared at the flames past their heads. Past the small brick window. Flames that were engulfing the entire city.

Yami did as she requested, albeit, reluctantly. There was much stronger Mana on another level. If she really was going to be the next ruler, then he might as well start respecting her wishes. Yami was a lazy man, but he would help her if need be - she was Julius' sister after all. That, and she already had his respect.

When it was just Solid and Etienne, she turned away, her face creasing and her fists clenched so tight she knew she was drawing blood out of them.

"You can go too," she offered.

Solid exasperated, "I'm fine being stuck with you as long as you don't get in my way."

But everything sounded muffled. All she could hear was the little voice in her head that tenaciously reminded her of _that. one. thing._

Her eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. As she blinked, they dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. She bit her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth. She sharply inhaled and turned to Solid, with tears flowing unchecked down her cheeks and dripping from her chin. "T-The next... Wi-Wizard... Q-Q..."

Her expression seemed to have startled him because he found himself at a lack of words. He almost wanted to ask her why she looked so terribly wronged, but his pride acted like a gigantic stone wall.

Her lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth. “They’re…” She began, yet what followed was engulfed in the tremors. Her knees buckled underneath her and her body tumbled. 

"Hey! Get a hold of yourself right now! Etienne!" Solid thrusted his arms out reflexively. His left foot extended to take his weight, and he found himself running to catch her. 

"S...Solid?" 

"Etienne?!"

Her mind was at a blank. 

_Face it._

_You'll be the next Wizard Queen._

"Etienne, wake up!"

_No. No. No. No. No. Please._

_This can't be right._

_Julius can't..._

Etienne found it comforting to have a hand on her back. It delayed her legs from collapsing under her. Her knees didn't reach the floor before he had lifted her into his arms, carrying her to make sure she didn't fall anymore.

"You're so warm, Solid..." She murmured, reaching out to touch his face, "Why... Do I feel like I'm in the wrong place...? I'm so cold." Those words made his arms feel a little weaker. He put her down and her head slumped onto his chest. From her mouth came a cry from so raw that even his eyes were suddenly wet with tears. He raised a shaky hand to his face in disbelief, feeling the wetness on his cheeks.

"Why?!" She shrieked.

"...Why?" Solid asked uncertainly.

"Why did you have to leave me?!" She sobbed, "Why did you have to leave?! Why did you ... Why did you leave...?!"

"Huh...? Etienne -"

How could you do that to me?! We... We were supposed to be..." Her throat burned. Her chest ached. Everything hurt. She pounded the ground with her fists. "Friends! Rivals! How could you?! You were my best friend! My... " She could feel herself losing her mind. She could feel it unraveling, the threads of every happy memory she could ever once recall, all but a disarray of strings scattered about her feet.

_I don't want to..._

"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! I hate you! What did I ever do to you?! How could you ... How could do this to me?!"

_...Be the next Wizard Queen..._

"H-Hey ... _"_

_...Without you by my side..._

"I loved you! I loved you, I loved you, I loved you! God damn it, I loved you! You were my best friend and I thought... I thought we would always be together! Rivals and best friends!" Her sharp knees dug into the earth as she hits the ground, her hands unsteady as they silently claw at the dirt. 

_... Rill..._

_...Where are you?_

It was as if every sound that escaped her mouth was set to the frequency that was shattering his heart to pieces again and again and again. He tried to ignore their cries of pain as he stood, unmoving. Unblinking. Unthinking. It was all he could focus on for now; the cries he heard. He didn't even know them, and yet he felt like it'd been years that he'd been listening to her cries. 

But Solid was used to toughing it out. He was a Silva after all. The proud house of Silva. He wiped his tears away from his face and forced himself into calmness. Desperately trying to hold his voice steady, he started, "Etienne. I don't know who - or what you're talking about. Get yourself together."

"Why did you leave...? Solid... Langris... Rill..." She gasped for the air that couldn't seem to reach her lungs, "... Julius?"

_I don't want to do this._

"God damn it, Etienne! Shut up!" Solid found himself kneeling next to her. Why ... the hell was he kneeling?

_Julius, please._

She could only let out a strangled sob in response, "I -I - I ca- can't... I'm- I'm ...hurti...ng. It... It hurts! It hurts so bad..!"

"Shut the hell up, Etienne. Now," he demanded, but he was trembling all over. He tensed when he felt a powerful presence approach them. He had been on the battlefield long before Nozel and Etienne arrived. He knew he was running low on Mana.

Solid's eyes widened when the smoke cleared, and he could make out the presence. The figure floated towards them, a spiky ray of Mana around him and at least a dozen rectangular figures floating sinisterly in mid air. "Get yourself together. We need to save this kingdom." He shook her shoulders, "Do you remember your plan for this kingdom?! You told me about it once, and I told you it was stupid. Do you remember?!" 

_I'm ... I'm going to create a Kingdom without discrimination._

"Do you remember?"

_But I can't do this without you._

Completely out of options, Solid grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed his head onto hers. She jerked back at the sudden impact, but finally tilted her head up. "Why the hell are you crying?! The Elves only took possession of their bodies. Their souls are in there." He wasn't sure if she could hear him at this point, but he yelled as loud as he could, "I know the Wizard King is gone, but he wouldn't want you to act like this! I know you! I know that you're strong!"

Something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and she hurried to investigate the sudden shift through her tear stained eyes. It was too late, the emotion disappeared before she could identify it. Desperation lacing her tone, she asked, "El...ves? They are...?"

"They are."

_What if I can't save him?_

"You're stronger than anyone I know, so get the hell up and fight! I won't stand to have a rival as pathetic as you! I won't stand to have a ruler as pitiful as you!"

_I couldn't save Julius._

"Rival...?"

“And right now, I'm telling you that I have never bowed to anyone in my entire life,” he said, drawing out the words as he tilted her head up, “But I will bow to you as the moon bows to the sun every morning. You are the ruler. So rise."

_You need to learn how to rise._

_What would the world be without the sun?_

"Ruler...?" She trailed off. She could hear footsteps coming their way.

"Eh? What do we have here?" A sinister chuckle rang through the room. "Painting Magic: Decay Orb of Death."

"Water Magic: Holy Water Assassination Bullet!"

"Spatial Magic: Archangel Shoot Down."

A column of dust must have rushed up into the vacuum created by the explosion of two spells colliding; blasts of water and dark flames, changing from red to violet and through the spectrum to black, went soaring away to dissipate in the upper atmosphere.

It took her approximately five long seconds before she figured out whose magic that was. "Sp-Spatia... L-Langris...?" She crawled over to him. He was in worse shape than she had ever seen, but he didn't have the pointy ears that the Elves did, and Etienne's mind wandered to Asta. _He found a way_ , she realised, her heart blazing with hope.

"Etienne. Thank you..." He whispered weakly, his lips curving into a pained smile. He reached out to grab her hand, "You know, you're my rival too. And you've always been a great rival. I know you'll be an even better ruler." His next words came in faltering gasps as he struggled to keep his eyes open, "So, go."

"Etienne, get up! Get the hell up right now!"

"Painting Magic: Revenge of the Dark Sprite."

"Cosmic Magic: Ursa Minor."

_Thank you. Both of you._

In Mythology books that Ursa Minor represented Arcas, son of Zeus and nymph Callisto, in a whirlwind of a love affair. Zeus then turned Arcas into a bear, hidden among the sky, in order to protect him from the wrath of his wife, Hera.

Luminescent yellow orbs and brilliant pin-pricks of white took shape in the form of a tight asterism of stars. They hung in front of her, as if strung in the air by invisible strings.

From the distance came a grotesque creature - the kind you'd only see in evil folklore - with a nose was long and hooked under two slitted golden eyes. It raised its wings and vanished into a hazy blur as it swooped at her. It didn't make it past her magic. It lurched forward and made a ear splitting screech as it was catapulted into the air, its body pierced by hundreds of silver arrows. Etienne looked up and squinted. That creature had probably become one with the stars now. In seconds, its screeching had dissipated into the early evening sky.

"I'll back you up," Solid stood beside her.

"I can handle this," she murmured mindlessly, "Please protect Langris and Finral." The dread and anxiety that deadened her mind and body was slowly being lifted. She turned to face the enemy.

"Lira," she addressed.

"You finally got my name right!" He smiled gleefully.

"Give Rill back to me."

His smile fell, and he glared at her with hatred in his cruel dull eyes, "You haven't had enough yet? Are you that excited to die at the hands of this human?"

"How dare you say that?" Her voice tumbled out softly, "If you won't return him back to me, then I guess I'll have to force him out."


	14. Etienne vs Lira

"Why are you doing this?"

His eyes were narrowed, rigid, cold, hard. In that moment she reminded herself that he was somewhere far away.

"Because you humans are wretched. You don't deserve to live. Let alone rule over this kingdom."

Etienne drew in a shaky breath. She was ready for this. This was the only way. This wasn't him. 

He chuckled, and spread his arms outwards, "You know, it took me a while, but this body allows me to paint way more than my old scribble magic!"

The paintings were full of contrasting colours and angry geometry. It was like the artist was full of rage, so furious that he couldn't bare to coordinate the colours. A part of her thought he wanted her to be affronted by the painting, but why? What was it he needed her to see from his eyes?

Before she could ideate further, the shapes started tumbling as if they started together and are being separated by gravity. They pooled out of their canvases, turning into reality. Monsters of all shapes and sizes oozed out from their canvases, magical beasts with jaws that were home to razor teeth swarmed around her like some sort of army from hell.

Volcanoes surfaced from the mud, seeping lava and molten onto the floor. Dark clouds congregated in the air, bashing the ground with thunder and lightning.

From the ground emerged a giant humanoid that had partially risen. It rammed its fist at her, but the strings that bounded to Etienne allowed her to dash through, leaping over attack after attack. She dodged and zipped past its dense fist, only to be lurched backwards brutally as a serpent sunk its teeth into her stomach. 

"Is that all you got?! Huh?!" She shouted. Blood pooled in her mouth as she gagged. "Damn you, Lira." She stumbled back for a brief second to catch her breath before diving back in, eyes narrowed in determination. The monsters charged at her with no hesitation, their claws grasping at her and tugging fiercely at her skin.

"No... This isn't right..." Lira muttered, looking around at his paintings. He paid no attention to her. A frustrated look came upon his face, "I drew monsters because I thought they'd be fitting to end all humans..."

Etienne wasn't nice enough to pass this up. She bolted towards him, "Wake up!" 

He struck his paintbrush down, "Shut up! Get away from me!"

"These aren't..." Etienne gasped as a serpent coiled its tail around her waist. She winced in pain at its strength and screamed, "...Rill's paintings!" 

She drew back her fist and bent it back to his chin. He bent over sharply from the impact, and drops of blood spattered his lap and knees. He scowled, "This isn't enough.... None of this is enough to get rid of my hatred for humans!"

Etienne knew her ribs were broken. Enduring through the pain, she thrusted her hand towards the ground, "Cosmic Magic: Annihilation." A circular magic circle materialised on the ground. A deep rumble sounded - a noise many magnitudes louder than thunder. Then silence.

"What, that's it?" Lira mocked.

Etienne glared daggers. She focused her Mana on her palms, sending multiple blasts of cosmic power deep into the earth. She could feel it worming its way to wreak destruction as she instructed. From within, the earth nullified its' man-made Giant Arm, compressing it into a pulp and returning it back to where it belonged. 

"Cosmic Magic: Andromeda's Vanity." With one swift motion, she traced the shape of the star she had summoned. Her pointer finger aimed at Lira, she uttered, "Trap!" 

"Painting Magic: Purple Fog of Pyromancy!"

Etienne leaped backwards, as inky purple paint floated off Lira's paintbrush, wafting into the air like an enormous smoke cloud. She fell to her knees as dense, purple smog encompassing large diameters around her and handicapping her senses. How long had she been running? It seemed to stretch on endlessly. She was breathing but the air just wouldn't go in, like her lungs were surrounded by metal bands. 

"That should kill you soon," she could hear Lira say, though she couldn't see him. 

"Mana Magic-"

She was cut brief when monsters from his previous paintings rushed towards her in a frenzy, claws digging at her skin and piercing through her bones. In the midst of their delirium, balls of ice shards and ferocious flames shot themselves at her, burning her skin and sending frostbite up her legs. She let out a strangled scream and felt blood well into her throat from the tongue she had just bitten through in vain attempt to keep quiet.

Slowly she tried to get up but quickly realized how futile it was when she had to bite her lip to keep from crying out. How many attacks had she been dealt? How much of a damaged state was she in right now? The creatures' face swiveled around her, leering at her before they made another move. She knew it was coming and her muscles tensed as much as they could.

The knowing didn't soften the blow. The bat of their attack was as hard as it looked and her leg was no ball. There was a sickening crack as something made impact, and she felt the bone split into an untold number of fragments as her mind became inoperable. The pain took her not far away, but deep inside herself to some primitive place that knew how to cope with the kind of pain that preceded death. 

"R-Rill, s-s-sto...p..." She said inbetween faltered gasps, "Pl-Pl..." 

This is bad. I'll die from blood loss if I don't stop this.

"Hey. You got your wish. Dying at the hands of someone you care about. The wall of pain still crippled but Lira's face came back into view. His words splintered inside her, causing more pain than anything else.

No. I refuse.

I refuse.

I refuse.

When she coughed, a warm, clouded red coloured liquid splattered on her fingers. Her vision was blotched with violent colours that moved and merged without pattern or design and she could barely see anything at this point. Except for the blood oozing out of numerous wounds in her face and arm, a small but relentless flow of crimson. Ashened faced and shivering, she still managed to choke out with her last breath, "Mana Magic: Black Hole."

Blackness came with such completeness it obliterated the memory of any spells that had just been. A gravity field acting as her shield, it sucked any attack launched at her, no matter how vast or how powerful. She clenched her fingers into a fist, closing up the black hole.

As it started to fade, she breathed as if no air would ever be enough. Despite the throbbing pain in her body, she managed to croak out, "Cosmic Magic: Star of Vigor." 

Among the brightest of the stars in the sky, the Star of Vigor shines with a brilliant, steady light undaunted by hardships or trials. Channeling the light of this Star allowed herself to heal completely in one touch. The only downside of this was it was the most Mana consuming spell in her entire Grimoire. She's never felt anything so sweet as this, it took her away onto a cloud of the purest nothing, but calling on Mana absorbing spells one after another was already taking its toll on her. Still, Etienne rooted her jaw and stared straight ahead. Solid had collapsed on the ground, panting as he tried to regain his magic. He had been on the defence against Lira's monsters. He was defending three people at once after all. Shit.

Etienne noticed Lira's eyes were focused on the streak of golden dust from her spell - the one she had summoned before he entrapped her in poison - burning its way down to the cold ground.

"You're slow," Etienne stated, flipping a few pages on her Grimoire, as she dashed forward, her punch landing on his face. He was thrown back forcefully, but he landed on his feet.

"Cosmic Magic: Twin Comets." Hold on a bit longer, she told herself, but the pain commanded her attention,cowing her brain into meek submission demanding a solution that she could not provide. "And, Cosmic Magic: Hail of Starlight."

"I'm not done! Painting Magic: Invasion of Heat-Infused Ice," Lira's hysterical laughter echoed through the battlefield. Bitterly cold and humid - such an enchanting combination. Every surface, every blade of grass and twig started to grow long ice crystals, blasting away the first comet.

"Neither am I!" She screamed.

The second comet arrived right on time, the front making its bold way across the winter sky, the tail becoming a fine decoration to its twin. It was enough to silence Lira completely, and obstruct his vision. She watched as a tremendous crater touched the earth as it striked Lira to the ground. The sound was almost deafening, the impact felt like enough force to send the oceans into space.

Her next spell came like dashes of glitter on the velvet sky. Beguiling, bewitching yet extraordinarily peculiar, they came down at an insane speed, brilliant surfaces of ethereal blue as they made their way to their one destination. The room started to shake. It crumbled in slow motion, slower than the eye can detect even over a lifetime. Only the sun and the moon themselves witness the steady deterioration of these abandoned turrets and ramparts. Upon this great, big earthquake, the fight continued.

"Painting Magic - " Lira began, a wicked grin spreading across his face. But he stopped momentarily as he finally registered the chains of gold and silver around his limbs. 

Large balls of celestial matter that crash down with stunning force, shattering in a burst of rubble and throwing up a cloud of stardust. Etienne stepped back as she watched the aftermath of her attack. As the air cleared, she could see him. Still entrapped in Andromeda's Vanity, his coat was stained with blood and gashed in several places; driven into his chest by ruthless starlight spirals of downward blows.

She rose unsteadily to her feet. Every step feels like a nail bomb exploding in her innards. "I made sure to miss your vitals. You won't bleed to death either."

"You'll pay for this!" He vowed, coughing up blood as he lifted his head up.

Come back to me. 

She knelt down before clambering on top of him weakly, her legs trapping his hips in place, and wrenching the paintbrush out of his hand. Along with his Grimoire, she threw them far away. 

Lira's eyes bulged at her actions, a vein almost popping in his temple and his fists tightly clenched as he struggled against her. He was extremely wounded at this point, and all he could do was scream.

"I hate you! You killed us when all we wanted was peace!" Lira shrieked. 

"I don't know what you're saying," she responded weakly.

"Humans should perish! I hate you! You don't deserve to live! We'll annihilate every last one of you! I'll kill you!" 

Etienne clutched at his clothes helplessly. "I'm sorry," she murmured against his chest.

"I'LL KILL YOU! Let go of me! Don't touch me! Us Elves will win this war!"

"Lira, I'm sorry!" 

Dead silence.

"...Huh?"

Etienne cried, "If ... If it's our fault... Then I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry! But Rill is someone who means a lot to me... So PLEASE! Please bring him back to me!"

With Lira just inches away, Etienne stopped and just gazed from the blur of tears and colours, trying to soak up any warmth in his eyes. There was none, but this was what she's dreamt of, just the two of them, finally alone. After a moment she placed her palm on his cheek and let her tears fall freely.

"You can't win because you don't know me... If you truly did, then you know I'd die for you."

"Die... For me?"

Her soft lips stretched into a smile but didn't quite reach her eyes. She shot her hand up towards the sky, "Cosmic Magic: Forcefield Boundary of Stardust." 

Dark, viscous swirling dust filled the air thickly, providing cover around them like a dome. As the veil lowered, she tipped her head to to the side and locked eyes with Solid. She smiled faintly, her lips quivering, "You guys will be safe, I promise. Don't die, okay?"

"What?!" Solid watched as the cloak of black grew more intact, completing itself in a luminous fractal, "What the hell is this, Etienne?! Don't do anything stupid, God damn it!" Solid shouted, as the dome enclosed around the two figures, denying entry to anyone who might try. He had no way of knowing what was going inside now. Shit. When they were younger, Solid was always a little harsher on Etienne than he was to others, but that was only because of how reckless she could be. He gritted his teeth. Why the hell was he remembering this now?

Once the force field was complete, Etienne turned back to Lira with a soft smile. He could only stare blankly at her, a pool of tears forming in his own eyes. 

"Rill. If you're in there, please wake up," she begged. Her voice sounded more pained than anything. "...I ... I Iove you. I love you so goddamn much. So, please..."

_The stars could truly be so ruthlessly cruel._

"Why is this...? Ah. This human must be crying," Lira said, letting the tears spill down his face. "It won't stop." His face screwed up like he's got some internal debate going on. Despite this, he laughed cruelly, "I'll never forgive you. Damn humans... Pathetic." He wondered why his voice had cracked, "I'll kill you."

Although her confession ended all arguments he had, his words dying on the tip of his tongue, his body exploded with an even stronger Mana than it was before, igniting in a fiery ball of yellow flame, billowing outwards precariously. It almost felt like pin point needles, piercing her skin at once.

She held her ground, but she whimpered, "I don't know what else to do, Rill." The pain kept shooting up her body, erasing every thought from her head and paralyzing her body. "I don't know what else to do." She repeated.

_But I won't let you do that._

_I can't._

"I'll blow this entire place to bits."

_Fuck, it hurts._

_I need to neutralize his self-destruction._

_I'm almost out of magic._

_I need to neutralize this._

"God damn it..." 

_I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I'd do without you._

But as she desperately tried to get her bearings, a wave of panic washed over her.

She was going to die.

She was going to die in the middle of nowhere and she was never going to see Langris or Solid or Rill ever again. She'd never get to laugh with Mereoleona ever again, she'd never get to enjoy talking to Dorothy over a bottle of wine while watching the shooting stars and fire displays in Dream Land. She was never going to curl up with Rill in bed with waffles and tea on their beside as he paints. She would never get to tell the real him that she loved him. They would never get married.

Was it possible to feel death? Was it possible to not only see and smell death, but feel it? Like a disease? Because if it was, or whatever that was, she felt it. That’s all she felt. The deep, burning sensation in her chest as reality seemingly smacked her repeatedly in the face.

She stroked his hair over and over, saying it would be alright with a voice that betrayed her tears. Clutching onto his chest in anguish, her head slumping onto his shoulder, she whispered, "... Mana Zone: Big Bang Calamity."

With time shocked to a standstill, it felt like the Solar System fell into chaos and confusion, for the magnitude of the shock waves that roared through the darkness like cosmic tsunami, were merciless beyond comprehension.


	15. Don't Leave Me Again

The snow alighted on Rill's face softer than the kisses his mother used to plant when he was a baby, and just as cold as the memories had turned. In this swirl of white the world was washed anew, like a new page, but he didn't want it. Where the hell was he anyway? 

Under this pristine layer of crystalline water was the path he had trodden as a child, walking with her hand in hand. Their little hands laced together over their warm mittens. 

_...Etienne?_

_Where are we?_

_...Are we dead?_

She let go of his hand and he turned back.

“Let’s go home. We shouldn't stay here," she whispered.

”W-Wh... No...” He trailed off.

Despite the thick blanket of snow, he felt... Warm. So warm. He belonged here. He felt safe. Why did he have to leave?

He wanted to turn the pages back and dwell on the fine details: the warmth she radiated that deepened when she smiled, how she always wore his rubber boots with four layers of socks rather than buy her own, how she never got too old to splash in the puddles. But life was pulling him forward into the unknown with one hand and erasing his past with the other. His thoughts were thicker than the blizzard, "Where are you?" He turned around to see her prints, but she wasn't there anymore. "E-... Etienne?"

"Will you trust me?"

"H-Huh?" He twirled back, but there was no one there. "W-Where are you?!..." He felt chills race up and down his arms when he realised he was alone. "W... Wait for me!" 

"It's time to go home."

He felt his eyes start to water.

_"No! Wait. Come back! ... Come back. Please!”_

“I love you," he blurted as he jolted awake. His eyelids rolled open, glazed over with with the remnants of a terrible dream. His heart was beating fast and there was a buzzing in his brain.

_What was that nightmare?_

When he closed his eyes, he could vividly recall his body jarring with each blow, how the pain seared through his skin like nothing he's ever felt before.

_W-What..._

_...Was that part of the dream too?_

_Why was his body punctured with so many wounds...?_

_Why was he bleeding all over? ... Was this his blood?_

There was a stake being hammered into his lower back, the strikes radiating pain in a way that shattered his brain - at least that's what it felt like. 

He tilted his head up, rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes. He wasn’t dead was he? He wondered as his eyes still tried to adjust to the sunlight. 

"Huh... What happened? I'm ... outside...?" He muttered, "But the snow..."

Rill clutched his head. It hurt. His brain pumped like it was trying to retrieve an information he couldn't quite grasp. The ground around him had been utterly destroyed, much like the remains of a cataclysmic earthquake. The kingdom was in ruins. Squinting, he could see Fuegoleon and Nozel in the distance, helping out injured citizens and clearing out ruins and large chunks of debris.

When the puzzle pieces of his memories finally flooded through him, he gasped, "What happened to the Elves? Did Etienne..."

When her name escaped his lips, he felt his entire body shudde _r. The snow. She was gone. No. No, she couldn't be._

 _Something's wrong,_ he realised. He staggered onto his feet _._

_No. Calm down._

He did his best to hold on to fragments of his memories. Asta. Asta was here. He was the one that neutralised that incredible spell at the end... 

_Okay. That makes sense._

The aches that gnawed at his body didn't matter anymore. Nor the bruises and blood splattered on his skin.

_But where is..._

He turned to his left, and when his eyes finally adjusted, he couldn't understand what he was seeing for a moment, like he was in some sort of a strange dream. He could see her hair moving in the breeze and her turqouise cloak billowing - the rest of her utterly still.

He felt his breath hitch as his legs buckled, knees sinking into the sodden earth as his brain caught up with what his eyes were feeding him.

"E...Etienne?" He finally choked out. His eyebrows furrowed in mild confusion. His stomach lurched. There was no way that was her. He refused to believe it. No. No, this can't be right.

"No. Please..."

But his memories said otherwise. 

_Mana Magic?_ His eyes grew wide. _Etienne's Mana Magic?... Is a literal catastr...ophe..._

"No... This is a misunderstanding," he said frantically, grasping for straws in his brain as he stared at her unmoving body, "I... I didn't..." He stared at his trembling hands _._

_No, this can't be happening._

_"Misunderstanding?"_ The little voice inside his head said flatly. 

_How could I have done this?_

_No. Wait. Asta stopped it, remember?_

As he knelt in the freshly dug earth, memories ransacked his mind. Tormented with what could have been and what should have been, words and regrets taunted him with a savage intensity. Then, he felt... Hollow. He felt... Cold. His hands covered his face as he let himself fall forward. His head on the ground, his face contorted into a mixture of emotions he had never felt before.

"No. Please... Please. No."

Regaining his senses, he crawled over to where she laid, hovering over her before gently cradling her in his arms. Her leg waspatched up in bandages, and if not for the blooms of purple on her body, she looked almost at peace. Owen must have mended quite a fair bit. 

Streaming tears cleansed his bruised cheeks. His voice came out weaker than he had ever heard it. "E...ti... enne?"

She; who he had loved since the moment she shook his hand beneath the sakura tree. She who sang him to sleep, and woke him up with the cheeriest of voices. The girl who proved it was possible to steal the warmth from the sunshine, and wonder from the moon, and offer it all to him. 

"Etienne, I heard you. I heard everything you said! So please... Wake up..."

His eyes searched her face for any signs of movement, but between his shaking arms that held her and the sobs racking his body, he couldn't quite tell.

"Please...! God. Please! Please, I'll do anything! I can't... I can't do this without you... Please...!"

He felt like he was going to be sick. He stared down at her in stunned silence. His hands fell to the ground. His entire body begun shaking, and he kept shaking his head - because no, this couldn’t be right. She couldn’t… be _dead_.

“Hey…” A hand fell on his arm.

Too bewildered to understand just what was happening, he just sat there, letting the tears roll unchecked down his cheeks. 

Etienne's throat burned. It was hard to swallow, let alone talk. Her head lolled to the left, gaze fluttering down towards her hand, palm up. Her Grimoire laid next to it. As she turned to the right, her gaze flickered across the wound on her right hip and the dried blood that covered the entirety of her right hand; her hand that was tightly held by Rill's.

Finally, her eyes met his.

"Hey..." She whispered again, voice faint but it caught Rill's attention nonetheless. His cries halt and his lips parts, as if to say something, but the words are caught in the back of his throat and all he can do is stare at your dulled expression and think back to a time when they’d shined so brightly.

"Come on," she continued, attempting a laugh but it ended up being a cough more than anything, "Where's that smile?"

And that was what guided him back to reality. 

"E...tienne..." With a desperate cry, he pulled her into his arms. 

"Etienne! Oh my god, Etienne!" He recited her name over and over like it was all he knew how to do.

He sobbed into her chest unceasingly, hands clutching at her cloak. She held him in silence, running circles around his back in comfort as his tears soaked her chest. A tiny lapse let him pull away, blinking lashes heavy with tears, before he collapsed again, his howls of misery worsening, "What's wrong with me?! I... I'm- I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I don't... I don't think I can ever forgive myself..."

The pain must have come in waves, minutes of sobbing broken apart by short pauses for recovering breaths, before hurling him back into the outstretched arms of his regret. 

"I... I don't like this feeling... I don't know what it is. It hurts so much. My heart hurts..." 

She ran her fingers through his hair to calm him down, heart lurching when she felt his frame tremble against hers. The only thing that truly bothered her right now wasn't the jarring pain through her body, or the dull ache of her broken bones, but it was Rill, the sight of him in distress, with tears in his eyes looking so disheveled broke her heart.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay, see," she murmured, but she didn't quite believe it herself. She punched his chest lightly, as tears streamed down her face, "I can't believe you turned into an elf."

He tried to smile, but his lips trembled and he broke out into another sob, "You're ... Alive..." 

"As if I'd go down that easily," she chuckled weakly. She was about to ask if they had won when she felt him hold onto her a little tighter. 

"R-Rill...?"

When he didn't respond at first, she felt alarmed.

"Rill...? Are you -"

"I ... I love you! I love you so much, Etienne!" 

She could only stare at him dumbfounded as he uttered those words as she wondered if this was some sort of elaborate ruse, some sort of odd near-death experience, or perhaps just her mind playing cruel tricks on her. 

"What ... did you say?" 

"I... I love you," he repeated, a little firmer this time.

"No, I ... I know, I heard you. I... I lo-"

"You ... You always give me inspiration to paint. I couldn't believe someone like you wanted to be friends with me... I couldn't believe it, and maybe ... Maybe that's why I didn't tell you sooner... You've never left my mind, Etienne, I've loved you since we first met! And I'm so... So grateful... that you chose to stay...!"

"I - I didn't want to say it back then because I thought it might scare you away, but I really do! I love you! Please don't leave me anymore! Please don't ever leave me! We're meant to be together!"

At this point he was shouting. Screaming his lungs out. His eyes stung so bad from all the tears relentlessly passing through, but he couldn't stop himself now even if he tried. His face felt like it was on fire - from passion or from embarrassment, he couldn't tell. 

“Rill-"

“No, please, let me finish,” he pleaded. “Etienne, I love you. I love you so much, and every day without you is ... Agonizing! I'm constantly reminded that I need you. I wouldn’t blame you if you shoved me away and slapped me right now and tell me to get lost and get the hell out of your life forever, but… I love you. And I will never, EVER let anyone hurt you again...! So please… please... Please give me another chance.”

He didn't care about all the people watching, or how loud he was being, or the Captains and squad members that had gathered around them.

"You make me a stronger person! A stronger Captain... A- And I... I feel like I can conquer anything when I'm with you, or even when I'm thinking of you... So I'll say this as much as you want... I love you, Etienne! And I... I know I'll love you forever, so if you can't forgive me... That's okay... I'll wait as long as it takes. _"_

When he was done, he was panting to catch his breath. 

Rill had expected a bombardment of teasing from the audience who had gathered, or hushed whispers and snickers while they tell him how stupid he was being. But after opening his eyes slowly, he was definitely not expecting the ridiculously wide smirk on Yami's face, the preposterously friendly cackles from Jack, the weird glances Charlotte was throwing Yami's way, or the dreamy look in Dorothy's eyes as she sighed, "Oh, to be young" . A stark contrast to that, Rill turned back to Etienne and whispered, " _... Do you hate me?"_

Etienne's eyes welled up and tears streaked down her dirty face, her lips trembling until she bit them and threw back her shoulders, sitting up next to him as her tears dry on her cheeks. Her body ached, but she propped herself up anyways.

"Do you think I would ever?" She whispered, before closing the gap between them both. The start of the soft touch sent a strong feeling of warmth spiraling through her system. Her eyes closed fearlessly, but the closure didn’t let her see darkness, it instead created colours of fondness.

The gentle hum of the wind coincided with the peaceful humming in her veins. A smile was pulling her lips upward before she could help it. As soon as she caught her breath, her lips were on his again.

"Why are we watching this?" Yami muttered from the side.

"Oh, aren't they just sweet," Dorothy cooed.

"W-W-W-..." Charlotte went red. 

"Disgusting. Makes me wanna slice them up," Jack commented, cackling to himself.

"Rill, I love you," she whispered to him, "I could never hate you. I'm just so glad you're alive. I hate being your enemy."

 _“_ Etienne... You… You could’ve died. I should be the one saying that,” he choked out, "Please don't die, okay?"

“I won't," she grinned bravely, reaching out and wiping the tears from his face, “And I don’t plan to. Not for a long time. Not until you paint the ultimate painting and I marry you and we grow old together.”

The abrupt confession startled Rill, his cheeks were tinted bright red. He froze in place for a good minute or two before he came to.

"M-Marry?! Captain Rill?!?!" Someone yelled from the sidelines.

“You… You want to m-marry me?” He asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Only if you're okay with being with the Wizard Queen...” It took less than a second for a cacophany of emotions to spiral obstreperously in her chest.

Her breath hitched, "Rill..." She whimpered, "J-J-Julius..." 

His face fell when he realised what she had meant, "T-The.... I... No... I'm sorry, Etienne. I should've... I should've been there..." 

Standing on the sidelines awkwardly, Yami cleared his throat, snapping all attention towards him. He took a long drag of his cigarette and said, "Sorry to break up this moment, but he's actually alive. Might I warn you, he's now -"

"A-A-Alive?!" The warmth from Etienne's body returned to her as quickly as it had left. Then she took a run across the paved ground and jumped in an attempt to fly into Yami, "T-Thank you! Thank you for protecting him! Th-..." But between the tears obstructing her vision and the burning pain shooting through her body - specifically her leg - which was in shattered pieces just half an hour ago, she thumped onto the baked hard ground and began to cry - not because it hurt, but because all of this was real.

"Are you stupid? What are you doing?" Yami asked blankly, genuinely confused at her actions.

Dorothy giggled softly and helped her back up. She patted Etienne's head lovingly, "Aren't you in the middle of something right now?" She cocked her head towards Rill, and Etienne felt her brain stutter for a moment, every part of her going on pause while her thoughts caught up.

"Well... I'll have to amend my words then... O-Only if you get permission from my brother. And if you want, of course..."

The grin that seemed so right on his lips suddenly grew and he pulled her closer, “I do! Of course I do! Nothing would make me happier!”

She clung onto him, returning his smile, “Okay, good."

"...And I swear I'll make it up to you. I know I promised I'll always protect you, but ..." He said through gritted teeth, tears threatening to spill again.

"Hey. No. You don't have to. We're okay now," she soothed, pulling him into a hug. 

"No, I will. I'll make it up to you."

She giggled softly, "Okay."

Without further delay, he dipped his paintbrush into his palette and gave it a quick swirl. He paused, reached for her hand before dragging his brush along her ring finger.

She watched him work, ribbons of thrill dancing in his eyes. When he was done, he twirled his brush around his fingers before placing it down, "Do you like it?" 

A silken silver diamond coruscating in the light sat upon her finger, welded to a strangling band of gold, which was engraved by the ,most sophisticated of patterns. She could only nod, enthralled by how beautiful it was. Her lips broke into a soft smile, "I can't wait."

Rill beamed, "This is a promise ring, okay? The real ring and proposal comes later." He planted a kiss on her cheek and his lips exploded into a radiant smile, "I love you!"


	16. A Grand Ball

_It was only right to throw a party after such a disastrous event._

_And so everyone had assembled - Royal families and nobles alike. There were the occasional winces as fellow wizard knights attempted to dance with their grievous injuries. But at the Royal Capital, inside the King's most luxurious ball room, none of that mattered. Everyone had smiles on their faces, frivolity sparkled in the air, unperturbed by any of the catastrophical events that had happened before tonight._

_Etienne’s heart thumped erratically in her chest as she descended down the grand staircase. She wore a satin and tulle off-the-shoulder evening dress, beaded lace appliques decorating the bottom, the flow of the ballgown pooling slightly around her ankles._

_She gripped the railings a little tighter when the heels encasing her feet attempted to submit her to gravity. She let out a small gasp when her ankles betrayed her, leading everyone’s attention towards her. Immediately she could feel the eyes raking up and down her dress that hugged her body, the excited chatter amongst friends as they oggled at her and the layer of red on some boys’ faces._

_Her eyes scanned the room for a familiar sight of unruly cotton hair but was disappointed when her eyes spotted none. He was probably lost in his own bubble again, painting away._

_Instead, another familiar face greeted her at the bottom of the staircase, charming eyes and smug smile._

_“Etienne, you are as beautiful as they all say, you know," Langris effused, gawking her frame from bottom to top like a captivating painting._

_He grabbed onto her hand and planted a delicate kiss on the dorsum. His lips were plump and pink. His suit was white, and the buttons were bright gold. He did look quite handsome. Even with the bandages around his hands._

_“Aren’t you supposed to he resting?” She asked, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the floor._

_”I wanted to say thank you,” he said, “After all, you did save my life... Twice.”_

_The music had changed into something sweeter, more elegant. People pooled around the middle in pairs, sheepish smiles and nervous grins. Others took this chance to drift further towards the corners, chattering amongst each other or stuffing their faces with food._

_”Do you still remember how to dance?” Langris asked._

_Etienne chuckled, “As if I could forget our practice as kids in our imaginary fairy tale ball.” Then she gulped as she watched an elegant couple waltzing next to her, "Actually, uh... Refresh my memory?"_

_She let him adjust where her hands would be, placing one on his shoulder and holding the other in her own. She was surprised at how gentle his touch was, having always associated him with ... well, anything but gentle. He directed her as her feet moved, slowly at first and then slightly picking up the pace. She smiled when she found herself being able to keep up with his own expertise. Slowly, the two of them fell into a rhythm._

_"I hear a congratulations is in order," he said after a while, pulling her into a twirl before they came back together._

_She giggled, almost tripping over her own feet. It had been a while since she had dressed up like this. "I could say the same to you. You're soon going to be Mister Langris and Finesse Vaude."_

_"And you'll be Etienne Boismortier," he said with a dry laugh, his grip on her waist tightening._

_He guided them away from the center of the floor._

_"Langris," she said softly, running her fingertips along the back of his hand, "What's wrong?"_

_He took a breath to make his case; he had a big, dramatic speech prepared about how sorry he was for hurting everyone, how perfect they could be together, how much he’d changed and seen the error of his ways and if she would just give him another chance… but it all felt so fake. He took a deep breath again, collecting himself. He couldn’t control the catch in his throat, or the way his expression crumpled into something ugly and miserable._

_He ran his fingers through his hair. Folding in on himself, he said, "Etienne, I really messed up."_

_“Why? Are you afraid of commitment and marriage or something?” She teased._

_"Marriage...?" The word felt foreign on his tongue. He parted from her abruptly, and her eyes searched his questioningly._

_"Is something wrong?"_

_"I can't explain it."_

_Her eyebrows furrowed, "Why?"_

_"Because you won't understand."_

_She gave him a look, "Try me."_

_He sighed in exasperation and he grasped at his hair, tugging it in frustration._

_"Sometimes, I think maybe I should have confessed to you sooner," he chuckled humorlessly, his gaze landing on the chandelier. Anywhere but the ring around her finger. "But I guess my head wasn't in the right place."_

_She froze as she realized what he just said. People shot them glances, wondering why they suddenly looked so solemn. But before she could question it he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could. Her heart was beating so fast and her arms were awkwardly hanging next to her body, not knowing if she should wrap them around him or push him away. He hid his face in the crook of her neck, his hair tickling her while doing so and his warm breath against her skin leaving tingles in her spine._

_“Langris....” She pushed him away softly, a warning riding on her tone. Especially because she knew he meant this in a different way than she saw it. And the feeling was eating her alive._

_“Are you afraid of me?”_

_The question startled her and she quickly shook her head. “Why would I ever be afraid of you?”_

_When he pulled away, she saw some relief in his eyes but the initial regret didn’t completely leave his gaze._

_Langris' much younger self would never imagine the word ‘crush’ and Etienne Novachrono fitting into one sentence, but somewhere along the line he fell for her and he fell for her hard. When did the feelings develop? He could hardly remember, but as much as he wanted the feeling to go away, his heart flickered when he saw her, and the worst part was that she had no idea._

_"And I keep thinking... Maybe if I had been more perceptive that day... If I had just swallowed my pride... You wouldn't have met him," he dropped his gaze, "I followed you. I went to the Vermillions because I knew you'd go there. I asked them where you went. And then I saw you in that park. You looked more alive with him that you have ever been with me or anyone else."_

_Her shoulders stiffened but she did her best to smooth her expression blank._

_"Why... Why didn't you tell me...?" And she immediately regretted asking that. He had tried once, she realised. That day after her entrance exam. But she never thought it had impacted him to this extent._

_He rolled his eyes at her and grabbed a drink from one of the waiters' trays._

_“And say what? ‘I know you have a fiance and all, but I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.’ That won’t work you dipshit,” he said, taking a gulp of his drink. “You're someone I actually want to marry. Not Finesse."_

_He had gone silent, regret so clear in his eyes. “Do you know what it’s like to watch someone you love, love someone else?” He couldn’t help but laugh self deprecatingly as she stayed silent. “Especially when you thought you have a chance with them. I thought that you might actually—” He broke off, trying to swallow the lump in his throat, “Whatever. It doesn’t matter now.” He offered a small, crooked smile._

_And she immediately wondered if she ever had feelings for him. Had she? She couldn’t tell. The only person in her mind all these years was Rill. But perhaps somewhere along the line, thoughts of Langris may have slipped past the cracks. But did it?_

_She didn’t know. And her brain offered her no words of comfort nor answers._

_He breathed out shakily and close his eyes as he massaged his temple."You don't have to say anything," he assured, "I guess I just wanted to tell you before I forever hold my peace. I'm okay with this."_

_Tears were floating in his eyes when he opened them again, face contorting under the weight of his pain. He gave her hand a squeeze. She could only stand still as she watched him turn his back on her, and she was heavily reminded of the moment they shared after her entrance exam._

_Despite the lavish, well aired and optimally constructed environment of the the ball room, breathing seemed like the hardest thing in the world right now. A part of this scared her. She had never seen Langris like this. Never._

_She watched him drift further away from her, about to enter the sea of dancing people before he stopped. Her lips slightly parted, she waited patiently for him to say something._

_“I just never thought you’d be the one to break my heart, you know?” he finally said, before disappearing into the crowd._


	17. I promise, I do

_Etienne and Noelle poked their heads through the curtains that had become their hiding place. What even was this mission? ..._

_"Asta seems like he's having fun..." Noelle huffed grumpily._

_"Question. When are you going to confess your feelings to him?" Etienne asked._

_"F-F-Feelings?! W-Wh-Wha- I don't care about him! Stupid Stupidsta!" She cleared her throat and threw a pigtail over her shoulder, "I'm royalty! Why should I care?"_

_"Okay, okay," Etienne threw her arms up in surrender, feigning innocence. There was no changing how terrible Noelle was at expressing her feelings._

_Etienne wasn't even sure why she was here._

_She had been gravitating around mindlessly, her head and limbs heavy with 'what if's and 'what have i done's, when she spotted Noelle, peeking her head, quite obviously, through an even more obvious hiding place. When Etienne saw what she was looking at, her mind ridded her of all thoughts and she couldn't help but join in._

_She grunted in annoyance and sighed again as she fixated her eyes once more on the six figures in front of her. They sat on a large table opposite each other, exchanging frivolous glances and conversation. It was miraculous they hadn't noticed her yet. Or Noelle for that matter. They had been crouched down in the corner for nearly half an hour now, and Etienne could feel her patience running thin._

_She watched from across the room as he made conversation with the people around him, wearing a small smile on his face. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't realised that he had arrived. Aqua and pearl white accented with gold, he looked absolutely dashing to her._

_"Stupid Mixer... Stupid party... Stupid Finral for asking Asta.... Stupid Stupidsta for agreeing..." Noelle grumbled furiously under her breath. She sat down on the floor grumpily, the fabrics of her dress spreading everywhere. Etienne could practically see steam drifting out of her ears._

_"Why is Rill even here with her?!" Etienne wondered. He sat across from a petite woman, who was evidently trying to make a move. "Why is she touchy-touchy?!" Etienne wasn't even sure if Rill knew that he was being hit on._

_Noelle's gaze was transfixed on them too, "I'm not sure. Apparently his date is the daughter of a popular nobleman."_

_"I'm a daughter of a popular nobleman!" Etienne blurted, jabbing a finger at herself, "I'm noble! I'm the Wizard King's sister!" She instantly felt like Noelle in this sense. She slapped her hands on her cheeks to bring her back down to earth,"God, sorry. I should shut up." Her eyes drifted back to the main focus on their mission._

_The woman touched his shoulder flirtatiously before locking their arms together. The noise that burst forth from her throat was like a cross between a snort and a drunken laugh, "Oh, I'm having a wonderful time, Captain! Maybe next time, we can do this at my place? "_

_Etienne's mouth dropped open, and she let out a choked cry. She laughed humorlessly, "Oh, someone's going to die."_

_"W-Woah, woah, Etienne, calm down!" Noelle hushed, "Y-You'll blow our covers!"_

_"Nope! No, no no! Nope, nope, no! I can't take this anymore! Did you hear what she said?!" Etienne declared impatiently, stomping her way towards the table. She pulled up a nearby stool and sat, her eyes never leaving the noble-woman's face. With a glare that could have frozen the Atlantic, she said, "Remove your hand or I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it."_

_This made Finral spit out his drink and Asta to topple over backwards._

_In the corner, Noelle let out a small cry. Her hands flew to her face, a little shaken up by how dauntlessly Etienne had approached the situation. The woman squealed, pulling her hand back so quickly one might have thought it was on fire._

_"E-Etienne?!" Asta stammered in horror, "R-Rip... A-Arm..." He gulped._

_"Etienne!" Rill exclaimed, his eyes gleaming when he saw her, "What are you doing here? You look so ... Wow..." He seemed completely unmindful to the severity of her threat._

_It was extremely rare for Etienne do first, think later. Startled by her own actions, she stood up quickly, almost knocking over her chair in process. "I..." She trailed off, clearing her throat, "Well, you see... I..." She clicked her tongue and tugged at her clothes, her mind buzzing unproductively, "I uh..."_

_"She's with me!" Noelle announced as she emerged from her hiding spot. Immediately, she regretted this._

_"Y-Yes! Yes! That's right. I'm with Noelle," Etienne nodded vigorously, swinging her arm around Noelle's shoulder, "Yup. Noelle and I... Are... uh... on an adventure."_

_"Are you serious?!" Noelle mouthed, deadpanning at how terrible of a liar her friend was, "We were obviously celebrating the end of an era. Just like everyone else here."_

_"Oh, hi, Noelle. What a coincidence," Rill waved._

_"I know right! A strange, STRANGE coincidence!" She said loudly._

_"Eh?!" Cried an even louder voice, "Noelle?!"_

_"A-A-Asta!" Noelle stammered. She had come to Etienne's rescue, but at what cost?! ..._

_"I didn't know you guys were here. You should've said hi!" Finral said. He turned to the women, smirking proudly, "These are our dates."_

_"W-W-What are you even doing on a date, Stupidsta?!" Noelle demanded, her cheeks as red as overripe tomatoes._

_"Eh?!?! Is that a problem...?!!" Asta cried out, "Did we have a mission I somehow forgot about?!"_

_"Y-Yeah, d-date?!" Etienne followed suit, turning towards Rill._

_"Ehhh... Er.... Well, Asta said they needed another person so I volunteered! I didn't know it was going to be a date! I really didn't! I didn't know what Mixer even meant!" Rill shook his hands frantically._

_"W-Why?!" She sputtered out, "If you wanted to go with a date, you could've asked me!" She drew a sharp breath, realising that she had acted completely out of character again. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. She leaned down closer to the noble-woman and smiled wryly, "Sorry. I'm not usually like this. Although, I do mean what I said..." Her eyes trailed down the woman's arm._

_The woman visibly wilted as each clipped word was uttered. Completely appalled by Etienne's disturbing threat, the woman and her friends hastily excused themselves before scurrying away from them._

_"N-No!!!" Finral wailed, "E-Etienne, why?!?!?!"_

_Etienne placed her hands on her hips in victory, her inner child jumping up and down in triumph._

_"Etienne! You should have told me if you wanted to!" Rill said. He checked to make sure the women were gone before he whispered, very loudly, "She wasn't my type anyway! And plus!" A dreamy look came upon his face and he was grinning for ear to ear, "We're engaged! Ah... I'm so happy! I feel like I'm floating! Ah..."_

_"Wait! Captain Rill's right! W-Why are you even here, Etienne?! You two are freaking engaged! ... Don't tell me you forgot?!" Noelle pointed at the ring on Etienne's finger accusingly. She glanced at Asta for a split second a hot blush on her face, before adding, "Congratulations."_

_"Oh! N-No... I totally didn't forget! I just... It hasn't really sunk in yet..." Etienne confessed, bringing her fingers up to look at her ring, "But... I'm really ... really happy!"_

_"Aw, Etienne!" Rill gushed, embracing her in a big hug._

_"H-Hey! Why are you looking at me, Stupidsta?! D-Don't tell me you want a hug too!" Noelle sputtered out, as she pointed a shaky - and accusing - finger at Asta, who looked completely clueless._

_At Noelle's initial comment, Rill reminded himself of why he was even at the Royal Capital Ball today. Yes, one, to see Etienne. And two... He shuddered. He had tried to help his word vomit out of his system by painting just before this, but to be honest, it didn't seem to help too much._

_He quickly pecked Etienne on the cheek - blushing as he did so - no matter how many times he had done this, before making up a lousy excuse. He'd been blushing so much around her one would think he had a permanent fever. Not that it had changed since they were kids. Now, he just didn't have to try so hard to hide it._

_On his way to the King's headquarters, Rill could vividly recall how how Etienne had reacted when Julius Novachrono rose back from the dead._

_Her eyes and her mouth had been frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise, and although she was staring straight at the reincarnated form of the Wizard King, it appeared as if she wasn't seeing him at all._

_He wanted to remember the smile that extended on her lips and the way her body radiated with unrivalled happiness as she bombarded the now thirteen year old leader with a stream of questions, almost monologueing. Then, the relief that painted her entire face when she realised she didn't have to take over. Many times, Rill thought Etienne was about to faint from the enormous concoction of emotions._

_He fiddled with his hands anxiously before glancing up at the door that seemed to be looming over him. He grew frigid when he stepped inside. Oh god, he was nervous. He was so nervous. This suit was way too tight._

_"How are you, Captain Rill?" Marx began._

_"Good! Really good. Not nervous at all!!" Rill choked out before he could stop himself, "I- I mean... Uh..." It felt a bit odd asking permission from a thirteen year old, but what has to be done will be done._

_Marx clenched his jaws to maintain a certain professionalism, but a small smile was tugging at his lips. He knew exactly what was happening._

_"I will excuse myself," Marx bowed rigidly, "Please get to work after your meeting, Wizard King."_

_Julius strolled in with a knowing grin on his face when Marx ushered his long awaited guest in._

_“So, what's going on? I think I have an idea, but it's not often you ask to speak to me, Rill."_

_“Ah! Well... I wanted to ask….” He drawled out, letting the words float away in the wind, his hands finding his pockets as he searched his brain for the words he knew to ask but couldn’t get his tongue to speak, “N-Need to ask.. Uh... about Etienne…”_

_Julius' smirk grew, he was enjoying this a little too much, for all he cared, Rill could stutter his way through this all day._

_“E-Etienne is the world… Uh... I mean... She means the world to me... ” Rill tried again, and after a good minute, Julius decided to stop the torture on Rill, much to his relief._

_“Relax, Rill, like I said before, I think I know what this is about and from the way you can’t get words out of your mouth, I believe I’m right. You want to ask me for permission to marry my sister, don’t you?”_

_Once the words left the Wizard King's mouth, Rill's jaw dropped open, he was not expecting this._

_Rill only nodded, letting a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. His eyes gleamed with anticipation, “Yeah, can I marry her? It'll make me the happiest person in the world.”_

_Julius chuckled, "So you did mean what you said at the Star Festival? You want to change her last name to yours?"_

_Rill nodded, "Yes. Yes. I do!"_

_Julius smiled as he walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “There is no one better to marry my sister than you, Rill! You’ve been with her for years and since the day she first met you, she ran over to me and asked what it felt like when our parents fell in love because she thought she may have felt the same thing with a fluffy haired boy she met at the park.”_

_“Th-The park? ... The first day we met?” Rill asked._

_“Yeah," Julius couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “I think she knew from the first time she met you, and I know she’s been waiting for this for a long time. She’s had her dream wedding planned since she was nine years old, and I know she's had wedding rehearsals with Dorothy in Dream World, so you ask her for any advice and she’ll have that wedding planned and ready to go by tomorrow."_

_"And if you want advice on the harder, tougher stuff, you can ask Mereoleona. She's been training Etienne since as far as my memory could stretch." He added. "Oh! And if you want to rant to people who'd understand, I think Langris and Solid might understand best."_

_Rill felt euphoric relief flooding his body. He had gotten permission to marry her from her brother, the great Wizard King. Which means he had fulfilled her one condition. He should probably ask Dorothy and Mereoleona for their permissions too, just in case._

_“T-Thank you!" He cried out with unparalleled happiness._

_“Huh? Rill?”_

_Etienne walked into the room, confusion furrowing in her brows, “What are you doing here and why do you like you're scared to all hells?”_

_Julius and Rill shared a look, "Nothing, nothing. Just... A chat.”_

_“About?” She pressed as she came to Rill's side. He grinned at her._

_“Nothing in particular," Julius chuckled, waving his hand dismissively._

_She scrunched her nose in confusion. These two were always weird, but they were acting unbelievably weird today. She shrugged it off._

_"Right. Anyways, Julius," Etienne hesitantly tore her gaze away from Rill, "And I still can't believe you're small - I ... Anyways, I'm here to talk to you about the Heart Kingdom. Have we been granted permission?"_

_"Ah! Heart Kingdom! Yes. You both have been permitted to train under the Spirit Guardian Potrof. Etienne and Rill - you both are Level 0 Knights in their system, but do your best nevertheless."_

_"Don't die again when I'm gone, okay?" Etienne joked, "If you do, I'll bring you back to life and kill you myself."_

_"You're scary," Julius replied._

_"Right! We're going to pack then! Thank you again, Wizard King!" Rill said, jabbing three fingers on his chest in the form of a salute._

_'Don't think you'll get away with it if you hurt her', Julius' eyes seemed to be saying, but he flashed Rill an encouraging smile and two thumbs up. He sniffled when they walked away, wiping a tear from his eye and placing a hand on this heart. He was going to be an uncle soon!_

_Rill glanced at Etienne, a part of him still refusing to believe that they were actually together._

_"Wait... Can you wait for me outside, actually?" Rill asked._

_Etienne shot him a look, her suspicions growing even more. "Right... Okay, sure."_

_Rill turned to Julius, determination glowing embers in his eyes._

_"I promise. I'm going to get even stronger and protect her. I'll become a better person. A better Captain. As long as I'm here, you don't have to worry about anything. I'll never let anyone hurt her."_

_end._


End file.
